JAN  9  1919 


Division  13X5H(o8 
Section     .35  H  9 


A  CENTURY  OF  MORAVIAN  SISTERS 

A  Record  of  Christian  Community  Life 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/centuryofnnoraviaOOnnyer 


Sister  Christine  Riem  of  Lancaster  who  married  Peter 
Fetter  of  Bethlehem 


JAN  a  1D19 


A  Century  of 
Moravian  Sisters 

A  Record  of  Christian  Community  Life 


By 

ELIZABETH  LEHMAN  MYERS 


Drawings 
By 

FRANK  J.  MYERS 


IDJ 


New  York       Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London       and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1918;  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    75  Princes  Street 


A  Gift  to  My  Son 


PEEFACE 


THE  group  of  stone  buildings  on  Church 
Street,  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  known 
as  the  Sisters'  House,  Gemein  House 
(Congregation  House),  and  Widows'  House,  is 
a  centre  of  interest  to  the  tourist  or  to  the  new- 
comer within  our  gates. 

The  women  who  have  lived  in  them  have  come 
from  Europe,  the  West  Indies,  South  America, 
and  all  parts  of  North  America.  Cultured 
women  of  high  degree;  women  of  lesser  degree 
but  just  as  sweet  and  gentle,  and  women  of  the 
working  class,  strong  and  willing  but  with  the 
same  desire  for  spiritual  uplift, — all  these  have 
dignified  the  old  houses  with  the  graciousness  of 
their  living. 

No  historian  has  yet  appeared  to  chronicle 
their  doings.  Fortunately,  the  early  sisters  kept 
a  diary,  noting  the  most  ordinary  actions  of  daily 
life;  and  this  diary,  now  in  the  archives  of  the 
Moravian  Church  in  Bethlehem,  has  been  very 
helpful  to  me  in  the  portrayal  of  life  in  the  Eight- 
eenth Century.  The  "Transactions  of  Moravian 
Historical  Society"  contain  many  interesting 
papers  notably  by  Matthew  Henry  and  James 
Henry  which  were  a  great  assistance  in  the  prep- 
aration of  this  book. 

The  booklets  and  historical  pamphlets  of  the 
Kt.  Rev.  Edmund  de  Schweinitz,  the  Rt.  Rev.  J. 
M.  Levering  and  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Reichel  have 
been  studied  carefully  in  order  to  give  a  correct 

7 


8 


Preface 


back-ground  for  the  groups  of  women,  quaint  and 
lovable,  who  move  through  these  pages.  The 
records  of  burials  in  the  old  graveyard  by  Dr. 
Augustus  S.  Schultze  has  been  invaluable  to  me 
for  names,  dates  and  leading  facts.  The  archives 
of  the  Moravian  Church  at  Lititz  and  Bethlehem 
were  courteously  placed  at  my  disposal  by  the 
custodians. 

The  couplets  from  the  old  chorales  which  head 
each  chapter,  were  found,  of  course,  in  the  hymn 
books  belonging  to  the  different  periods. 

Various  minor  facts  I  have  carefully  gleaned 
here  and  there,  to  form  a  picture  as  complete  as 
may  be  at  this  late  day. 

There  is  much  that  is,  as  yet,  unwritten  history 
and  for  this  I  am  deeply  indepted  to  those  of  an 
older  generation,  who,  still  with  us,  find  great 
pleasure  in  living  their  youth  over  again,  conver- 
sationally, and  taking  their  friends  with  them 
into  the  intimacy  of  that  bygone  day. 

If  you  who  now  follow  me  back  into  the  years, 
can  get  a  real  understanding  of  the  kindliness, 
the  whimsicality,  the  oddity  which  covered  sin- 
cerity, the  sympathy, — above  all,  the  childlike 
trustfulness  of  piety  of  these  old  sisters,  I  will 
not  have  delved  in  vain. 

E.  L.  M. 

Bethlehem ,  Pa. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  Anna  Nitschman  and  the  Earliest  Sisters  .  15 

II.  The  Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters   35 

III.  Some  Eevolutionary  Sisters  and  the  Pu- 

laski Banner    65 

IV.  Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century  ....  75 
V.  Birthdays    95 

VI.  A  Tranquil  Community   117 

Vll.  Some  Teaching  Sisters  and  the  Old  Bell- 
ringers    137 

VIII.  Some  Widowed  Sisters   163 

IX.  Christmas  Among  the  Sisters   195 

X.  The  Sisters  op  '61   219 


ILLTJSTEATIONS. 

Sister  Christine  Riem,  Frontispiece 

Gemein  House,    18 

The  Mysterious  Closet  Door,   47 

The  Sun  Dial  Door,   50 

The  Gemein  House  Hall,   60 

Sister  Owen  Rice,    76 

The  Grosser  Saal  or  Sisters'  Chapel  (Second  Floor),. .  86 
"Around  by  the  Pfortchen"  (or  Hooded  Doorway),. .  118 

A  mid-century  sister  in  her  black  sunbonnet,   124 

Calypso  Island,   138 

The  River  Road,   154 

The  Grave  of  Daddy  Thomas  with  the  Horsefield  House 
in  the  background,  the  main  path  of  the  old 

graveyard,    156 

Sister  Freytag,    188 

Sister  Heckewelder,  188 

The  Trombone  Choir  on  the  Steeple,   200 

Sister  Eggert,   210 

East  Gable  of  the  Sisters'  House,  215 

Sister  Hueffel,  222 

Sister  Connolly,   222 

The  Sisters'  Pump,   226 


Gregorys  46th  Metre* 

( Jesu,  fufc  mich.)  Adam  Drese,  1698. 


Not  Jerusalem— lowly  Bethlehem 
'Twas  that  gave  us  Christ  to  save  us; 
Not  Jerusalem, 


I 

Anna  Nitschman  and  the  Earliest  Sistebs 


Fidci  Unitas. 


c.  1250. 


Lord,  at  all  times  may'st  Thou  within  us  find 
A  loving  spirit  and  a  child-like  mind; 
And  from  Thy  wounds  may  we  receive  the  power, 
Through  all  life's  weal  and  woe,  in  every  hour, 
To  cling  to  Thee. 

Thus,  till  the  heavens  receive  us,  shall  we  be 
Like  children,  finding  all  our  joys  in  Thee; 
And  though  the  tears  of  sorrow  oft  must  fall, 
Yet  if  Thou  to  our  hearts  art  All-in-all, 
Sweet  peace  will  come. 


I 


Anna  Nitschman  and  the  Earliest 
Sisters 

EARLY  in  December  of  1740,  there  arrived 
at  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  British 
colony  of  Pennsylvania,  a  little  group  of 
travellers  for  whom  Fate  had  destined  great 
things. 

They  were  David  Nitschman,  familiarly 
known  as  Father  Nitschman,  his  daughter  Anna 
Charity,  her  friend  Johanna  Molther  born  the 
Baroness  von  Seidewitz,  with  Bishop  David 
Nitschman  and  Christian  Frolich. 

Their  mission  in  the  New  World  was  to  found 
a  settlement  for  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  Morav-^ 
ian  Church,  in  that  section  of  the  country. 

Without  lingering  in  the  comfortable  Quaker 
City,  they  pressed  on  through  the  forest  to  the 
Barony  of  Nazareth  as  it  was  then  called,  beyond 
the  Delaware,  where  the  remnant  of  the  Morav-J 
ian  Mission  in  Georgia  had  settled. 

Their  leader,  Peter  Boehler,  had  been  invited 
by  the  evangelist  Whitefield  to  settle  on  the  land 
owned  by  him;  most  thankfully  the  Moravian 
Brethren  accepted  and  built  for  themselves  a 
shelter  in  the  wilderness. 

15 


16      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


All  was  amity  at  first ;  but  by  and  by  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  developed  on  that  knottiest  of  all 
problems  and  the  one  that  lay  closest  to  their 
hearts^  Religion. 

These  men,  with  their  University  training, 
were  well-versed  in  the  theology  of  the  day,  and 
the  argument  waxed  bitter.  Each  man  delivered 
his  opinion  in  sonorous  Latin,  as  that  was  the 
language  best  known  to  both,  but  the  classic 
rhetoric  died  away  in  unavailing  echoes  under 
the  great  trees,  and  the  only  agreement  reached 
was,  disagreement. 

Brother  Boehler  and  his  companions  retired 
into  their  log  cabins  for  the  winter,  and  great 
was  their  joy  when  Father  Nitschman  and  his 
party  arrived  and  announced  the  projected  settle- 
ment of  their  own.  Brother  Boehler  had  made 
some  inquiries  regarding  land  to  the  southward, 
on  the  Lehigh  River  and  at  once  communicated 
his  ideas  to  the  Nitschman  party. 

Two  days  later.  Father  Nitschman  and  two 
others,  shouldered  their  axes  and  tramped 
through  the  winter  woods  to  have  a  look  at  the 
land  under  discussion.  Anticipating  the  pur- 
chase, they  selected  a  spot  for  the  first  house  on 
a  hillside  sloping  down  to  the  Monocacy  Creek. 
At  the  base  of  the  hillside,  was  a  delightful 
spring  which  even  in  that  weather  was  not  frozen 
over  and  determined  their  choice  as  it  provided 
the  water  supply.    Standing  knee-deep  in  the 


Anna  Mtschman 


17 


snow,  Father  Nitschman  felled  the  first  tree, 
"about  the  time  of  the  shortest  day" ;  and  before 
the  next  winter  solstice  came  around  the  little 
band  were  warmly  ensconced  in  their  new  home, 
and  had  nearly  completed  the  second  building 
now  the  Gemein  Haus  on  Church  Street. 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1741,  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf,  the  great  patron  of  the  Moravians,  arrived 
from  Germany.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
daughter,  Benigna,  who  found  a  very  few  of  her 
own  sex  to  greet  her.  But  these  were  choice 
spirits.  Kosina  Zeisberger,  wife  of  the  Mission- 
ary Zeisberger,  and  mother  of  the  famous  mis- 
sionary David  Zeisberger;  Anna  Nitschman, 
Johanna  Molther,  and  Hannah  Hummel  from 
South.  Carolina. 

Christmas  eve  was  celebrated  by  a  love  feast  in 
the  little  cabin.  All  were  present,  and  inspired 
by  the  occasion.  Count  Zinzendorf  impulsively 
began  to  sing  the  old  Christmas  hymn 

Tune  46A. 

Not  Jerusalem 
Lowly  Bethlehem 
'Twas  that  gave  us 
Christ  to  save  us 

and  seizing  a  candle  led  the  way  into  the  adjoin- 
ing cattle  stable  under  the  same  roof,  where  sheep 
and  oxen  stood  in  their  stalls.  The  quick  fancy 
of  the  Count  at  once  grasped  the  likeness  to  that 
other  Bethlehem  of  centuries  ago,  and  he  gave  its 
name  to  the  new  settlement  then  and  there. 


Anna  Mtschman 


19 


The  Zinzendorf  party  departed  on  the  eve  of 
the  New  Year,  leaving  a  happy  family  behind 
them  in  the  wilderness,  including  Sisters  Zeis- 
berger  and  Nitschman. 

Anna  Nitschman  was  the  most  noteworthy 
woman  of  her  time  in  the  Church. 

While  in  Herrnhut,  the  headquarters  of  the 
Church  in  Saxony,  she  assembled  seventeen 
young  women  in  a  special  covenant  of  consecra- 
tion to  the  service  of  the  Lord.  This  was  on  May 
4th  of  1730,  and  in  honor  of  this  ancient  cove- 
nant, the  day  is  still  celebrated  as  the  Covenant 
Day  of  the  Single  Sisters. 

Out  of  this  grew  the  "Choir''  system,  a  division 
of  the  church  membership  into  classes  according 
to  age  and  sex,  of  which  more  later.  While  still 
in  Herrnhut,  and  when  only  fifteen  years  of  age, 
Sister  Anna  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  El- 
dress,  according  to  the  customs  of  the  Ancient 
Church.  She  frequently  spent  whole  nights  in 
prayer,  and  her  remarkable  spirituality  exercised 
a  great  influence  upon  the  sisters. 

Her  portrait  in  the  archives  at  Bethlehem 
shows  her  in  the  costume  worn  by  the  sisters. 
Blonde,  with  hig  blue  eyes  set  far  apart  and  of 
the  type  that  artists  give  to  saints,  here  expres- 
sion is  most  benignant.  A  gentle,  visionary 
woman  evidently  and  yet  possessed  of  indomita- 
ble endurance,  for  she  and  Sister  Molther  were 
the  pioneer  women  missionaries  in  Pennsylvania, 


20      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

traveling  many  miles  through  this  section,  sleep- 
ing under  the  stars  in  the  dense  forests,  and  fac- 
ing the  combined  terrors  of  wild  Indians  and 
wild  animals  and  poisonous  snakes. 

After  strenuous  labors  through  the  southeast- 
ern part  of  the  state  she  returned  to  Herrnhut, 
and  there  became  the  second  wife  of  Count  Zin- 
zendorf  in  1757,  continuing  her  faithful  work  in 
the  Church.  In  a  few  short  years  she  was  called 
to  her  eternal  home,  and  lies  in  the  "Hutberg," 
the  cemetery  at  Herrnhut. 

Therefore  she  is  not  the  Sister  Mtschman  who 
is  buried  in  the  old  graveyard  in  Bethlehem. 
This  was  Juliana  Nitschman,  Deaconess  of  the 
United  Fratum,  wife  of  Bishop  John  Nitschman, 
cousin  of  Anna,  and  a  most  important  worker  in 
the  Church.  She  was  one  of  the  young  women, 
who,  on  that  memorable  occasion  in  Herrnhut 
covenanted  with  each  other  to  consecrate  their 
lives  to  God.  It  was  in  the  year  1749  that  she 
came  to  this  country  and  took  up  her  spiritual 
ministry  with  such  ardor  that  she  was  given  the 
name  "The  Mother  of  Pennsylvania.'^  She  was 
also  the  mother  of  four  sons  the  oldest  of  whom 
was  fourteen  when  she  came  to  the  Colonies,  and 
four  boys  were  quite  a  responsibility  even  under 
the  Moravian  system  of  life  then  in  vogue,  by 
which  the  Church  took  care  of  its  children,  leav- 
ing the  parents  free  for  the  mission  work.  She 
was  distinguished  for  her  extraordinary  piety 


Anna  Mtschman 


21 


and  her  entire  consecration  to  the  service  of  the 
Church.  For  two  years  she  was  privileged  to 
labor  in  this  new  field,  and  then,  in  1751,  she  too 
was  "called  home"  when  only  thirty-nine  years  of 
age.  Her  early  death  was  looked  upon  as  a  great 
calamity. 

As  a  special  honor,  Juliana  was  buried  in  what 
was  then  the  center  of  the  old  graveyard.  This 
was  certainly  a  great  distinction,  inasmuch  as  it 
was  the  only  departure  from  the  rule  of  the 
Brethren  that  all  are  equal  in  death.  The  Foun- 
der of  Bethlehem,  himself,  lies  in  one  of  the 
rows  of  graves,  and  all  the  early  Bishops  of  the 
Church  nearby,  but  the  Church  broke  its  estab- 
lished custom  to  honor  the  virtues  and  labor  of 
this  one  woman  whose  life  was  offered  as  a  sacri- 
fice to  the  heavy  duties  of  her  office. 

Founded  with  the  intention  of  making  it  a  cen- 
ter of  missionary  operations  in  the  New  World, 
Bethlehem  was  literally  hewn  out  of  the  primeval 
wilderness  with  much  hardship,  but  with  prayer 
and  praise.  It  was  modelled  upon  the  parent  vil- 
lage Herrnhut,  and  from  the  beginning  the  policy 
of  exclusion  of  outside  people  and  interests  was 
adopted.  Count  Zinzendorf  decreed  this  for  all 
Moravian  villages,  and  it  was,  at  first,  a  prime 
factor  in  preserving  the  spirituality  and  religious 
feeling  so  needful  to  the  success  of  an  idealistic 
community. 

This  was  one  of  the  many  reasons  which  made 


22      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

possible  the  General  Economy  instituted  in  1742. 

When  the  Congregation  was  formally  estab- 
lished on  June  25th  of  that  year  it  consisted  of 
eighty-two  members,  and  these  were  divided  into 
two  parts  known  as  the  Pilgrim  Congregation 
and  the  Home  Congregation. 

In  addition,  an  unusual  system  of  living  was 
adopted,  called  "The  Economy.''  The  people  of 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  with  two  small  settle- 
ments near  Nazareth,  formed  an  exclusive  or- 
ganization in  which  prevailed  a  communism  not 
of  goods,  but  of  labor.  Lititz  never  adopted  this 
system.  Those  who  owned  property  were  not  re- 
quired to  sacrifice  it.  All  they  were  asked  to 
give  was  their  time  and  the  work  of  their  hands, 
and  in  return  they  received  the  necessaries  of  life 
and  the  comforts  of  home. 

This  system  maintained  the  mission  work 
among  the  Indians,  and  the  various  immigrations 
from  Europe,  as  the  Moravians  owned  their  own 
sailing  vessels  in  order  to  be  independent. 

At  the  head  of  the  church  and  the  community 
there  stood  a  most  extraordinary  man,  the  Rt. 
Eev.  Augustus  Spangenburg  known  affection- 
ately as  Brother  Joseph.  This  name  was  given 
to  him  because  in  a  time  of  war  and  scarcity  he 
cared  for  his  brethren  as  Joseph  had  cared  for 
his  brethren  in  Egypt.  A  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Jena,  he  was  a  most  eloquent  preacher, 
and  a  ruler  whose  executive  ability  carried 


Anna  Mtschman 


23 


through  the  Economy,  and  established  perma- 
nently the  American  Moravian  Church.  He 
made  many  trips  back  and  forth  between  the 
Colonies,  England  and  Germany,  engaged  with 
his  close  friend  Count  Zinzendorf  in  conducting 
the  affairs  of  the  Brethren. 

Spangenburg's  wife,  Mary,  was  a  very  great 
help  to  him.  She  was  one  of  the  most  marvelous 
women  of  olden  times,  of  lively  temperament  and 
great  energy.  Very  practical,  she  had  been 
placed  in  charge  of  the  housekeeping  of  the  Con- 
gregation in  Marienborn,  Saxony,  and  therefore 
was  well-adapted  to  direct  the  Bethlehem  Econ- 
omy. 

A  fluent  speaker,  she  was  ready  at  all  times  "to 
keep"  a  meeting  for  the  Sisters  in  Bethlehem  or 
Nazareth.  Generally  esteemed,  she  was  more 
feared  than  loved,  as  her  authority  was  inclined 
to  be  a  bit  imperious.  She  was  usually  called 
"The  Mother''  on  account  of  her  great  interest  in 
the  details  of  life,  as  well  as  discipline. 

On  August  13th,  1745,  Brother  and  Sister 
Spangenburg  celebrated  the  Harvest  Love  feast  >J 
in  Xazareth,  and  Mary  spoke  very  feelingly  con- 
cerning childlike  faith.  She  also  referred  to  the 
corn  crop  which  had  done  well  in  spite  of  adverse 
conditions,  and  was  the  first  crop  of  corn  these 
German  farmers  had  ever  seen.  The  spinning 
business  among  the  sisters  was  then  organized, 
and  "Mother  Mary"  closed  the  meeting  with 
prayer. 


24      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


The  Spangenburg's  returned  to  Europe  in 
1748,  and  Sister  Mary  lived  for  only  two  more 
years. 

The  good  ship  Irene  was  one  of  those  owned  by 
the  Moravians,  many  a  voyage  she  made  across 
the  Atlantic,  laden  with  the  faithful.  Sometimes 
the  trip  was  a  comparatively  short  one,  but  if  ad- 
verse winds  or  weather  were  encountered  it  was 
many  months  before  she  cast  anchor  at  Staten 
Island. 

In  April  of  1754,  Bishop  Spangenburg  once 
more  set  sail  for  Pennsylvania  on  the  Irene.  He 
celebrated  Easter  Day  on  the  ocean  calling  to 
mind  "the  multitudes  it  had  swallowed  up,  and 
who  should  all  rise  again  in  that  great  day  of  the 
Lord,''  the  entire  ship's  company  attending  the 
service  on  deck. 

On  the  voyage,  winds  and  seas  were  propitious 
and  after  a  direct  and  pleasant  voyage,  the  party 
safely  landed  on  Staten  Island  and  proceeded  to 
Bethlehem. 

Upon  arrival  there,  they  were  welcomed  by  all. 
The  Bishop  w^as  greeted  with  great  joy  and  a  spe- 
cial love  feast  was  celebrated  in  his  honor. 

One  of  the  members  of  the  ship's  company  had 
been  the  Widow  Miksch,  who  had  been  engaged 
in  official  work  among  her  sex  in  Europe,  and 
had  come  to  the  new  settlement  to  continue  her 
labors. 

Spangenburg  had  learned  to  appreciate  her  as 


Anna  Mtschman 


25 


a  "faithful  handmaid  of  Christ,"  and  later  in  the 
month  of  May,  1754,  they  were  married  by  Bishop 
Nitschman  at  Bethlehem. 

This  second  marriage  was  a  very  happy  one. 
The  bride  was  a  most  exemplary  woman  and  her 
work  as  his  co-laborer  was  so  efficient  that  he 
called  her  "his  Martha'^ — saying,  "My  Martha  is 
a  good  child,  a  worthy  gift  of  the  Saviour  for  me ! 
If  her  open-heartedness  and  my  sternness  could 
be  divided  between  us,  it  would  be  of  service  to 
the  Church.  We  yield  ourselves  up  to  it."  She 
came  to  be  known  by  this  name  so  exclusively 
that  it  has  been  taken  by  some  writers  to  have 
been  her  real  name. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  her  name  was  Mary ;  and 
I  wonder  if  a  little  w^orldly  reason  did  not  creep 
into  the  Bishop's  fondness  for  the  name  "Mar- 
tha," because  Mary  was  the  name  of  the  first 
wife ! 

Brother  Valentine  Haidt,  who  painted  so  many 
portraits  of  that  time,  painted  none  better  than 
the  one  of  Sister  Spangenburg.  She  was  evi- 
dently a  w^oman  of  fine  presence  with  a  red 
cheeked,  wholesome  look  that  shows  the  robust 
constitution  so  necessary  in  those  pioneer  days. 
The  direct  gaze  of  the  eyes,  and  the  strong  fea- 
tures denote  the  qualities  that  would  produce  a 
"Martha." 

It  is  pleasant  to  find  in  some  old  correspond- 
ence, a  list  of  supplies  sent  to  the  Brethren  from 


26      A  Century  of  Mora\dan  Sisters 

England,  that  mentions  a  silk  dress  for  sister 
Spangenburg  from  a  lady  of  title  in  Yorkshire, 
a  woman  who  also  did  much  church  work  and 
who  knew  something  of  the  stupendous  task  un- 
dertaken by  the  Spangenburgs  in  Pennsylvania. 
Slow  as  mails  were  in  those  days,  she  must  have 
Leard  of  the  marriage,  and  sent  her  bridal  gift. 

At  this  time  the  Indian  Mission  prospered 
greatly,  and  Bethlehem  became  famous  amongst 
the  tribes.  Many  Indians  were  baptized  in  the 
Old  Chapel,  and  many  more  came  to  visit  the 
place,  leaving  again  very  much  impressed.  A 
small  village  was  built  for  the  Indian  converts, 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill  between  what  is  now 
Church  Street,  and  the  Lehigh  river,  where  they 
settled  happily. 

Just  a  short  distance  down  the  river  lay  the 
Minai  Trail,  leading  down  from  the  Poconos  and 
Blue  Mountain  ranges  to  the  tide-water  tribes. 
The  trail  crossed  the  river  at  the  old  ford,  and 
then  led  on  to  the  south  by  the  farm  of  Isaac 
Ysselstein,  now  the  site  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company.  Ysselstein  was  a  Hollander  who  set- 
tled there  in  1738  before  the  coming  of  the  Morav- 
ians, and  built  for  himself  a  log  cabin  near  the 
ford. 

When  Boehler  and  his  company  arrived  from 
Georgia,  Isaac  and  his  family  were  very  kind  to 
them,  and  held  them  in  high  esteem.  Later  Isaac 
died,  and  after  the  custom  of  the  time  was  buried 


Anna  Xitschman 


27 


on  his  farm,  with  Moravian  rites.  Just  where  he 
was  interred,  no  one  knows,  but  a  constant  re- 
quiem is  now  sung  over  his  bones  by  the  roar  of 
giant  machinery  and  the  rumble  of  heavy  trains. 

His  widow  Kachel,  and  her  six  daughters 
moved  to  Bethlehem  where  they  joined  the 
Church  and  took  up  its  customs,  one  of  which 
Kachel  adopted,  only  to  drop  it,  namely  the  wear- 
ing of  the  white  bow  of  widowhood. 

Abraham  Boemper,  the  old  silversmith  of  the 
village,  wanted  a  wife  and  for  his  sake  Rachel 
put  on  the  blue  bow  of  the  married  sisters,  and 
"they  lived  happily  ever  after,"  at  least  for  twen- 
ty years  more.  A  few  of  the  silver  spoons  which 
Brother  Boemper  hammered  out  so  patiently  on 
his  wooden  molds  are  still  in  one  of  the  Moravian 
families. 

The  Congi'egation  bought  the  farm  of  Rachel, 
and  added  it  to  the  Church  lands.  The  price 
Ysselstein  paid  the  crown  for  all  his  lands  was 
twenty-six  pounds  five  pence. 

The  latter  part  of  Sister  Rachel's  life  in  Beth- 
lehem was  coincident  with  a  time  of  distress  for 
the  village. 

It  was  the  period  of  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  and  the  Moravians,  whose  avowed  friend- 
ship for  the  Indians  was,  of  course,  well  known, 
were  accused  of  being  in  league  with  the  French. 
This  was  most  fearfully  disproved  by  the  apal- 
ling  massacre  at  Gnadenhiitten  an  outlying  mis- 


28      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


sion  station,  when  it  was  practically  wiped  out 
by  hostile  Indians  under  French  control . 

Measures  were  at  once  taken  to  protect  Beth- 
lehem. A  stockade  was  built,  watch  towers 
erected  and  the  village  patrolled  nightly.  Sev- 
enty of  the  Indian  converts  were  in  the  town  and 
were  of  great  help,  making  good  scouts.  At  har- 
vest times  they  acted  as  sentries  on  the  borders 
of  the  farms  in  case  of  an  attempt  to  surprise  the 
towns ;  and  in  many  other  ways  showed  their  de- 
votion. 

To  ward  off  all  these  dangers  extreme  vigilance 
was  exercised,  but  nothing  of  any  real  moment 
occurred.  It  is  related  that  a  group  of  sisters 
w^ere  in  a  field  gathering  flax,  when  Indians  en- 
deavored to  carry  them  off,  but  were  foiled.  At 
another  time  ignited  wads  were  discharged  into 
the  thatched  roofs  of  some  houses,  but  were  de- 
tected in  time  to  save  a  general  fire. 

The  most  serious  attempt  against  the  town,  oc- 
curred early  on  the  morning  of  Christmas  Day 
1757,  and  tradition  says  was  averted  by  the  trom- 
bone choir  playing  its  Christmas  Chorales  on  the 
belvedere  of  the  Brethren's  House.  It  is  said 
that  the  savages  were  creeping  upon  the  village 
in  the  darkness  just  before  dawn,  when  strange, 
solemn  sounds  from  away  up  in  the  air  fell  upon 
their  astonished  ears.  Three  times  they  heard 
this  melody,  (three  chorales  were  played)  and 
with  the  last  one  decided  it  was  the  voice  of  the 


'Anna  Mtschman 


29 


Great  Spirit  speaking  to  them,  telling  them  the 
Moravians  were  under  his  protection,  and  they 
were  to  go  away  and  forever  leave  the  Brethren 
in  peace.  So  the  warriors  silently  slipped  back 
into  the  shadows  of  the  great  forest,  and  the 
troubles  of  the  Brethren  were  over. 

It  was  months  before  they  knew  their  narrow 
escape  and  then  the  story  was  told  to  them  by  a 
Minsi  convert,  who  came  down  from  the  moun- 
tains. 

Up  in  the  Blue  Kidge  there  was  living  a  most 
remarkable  woman,  Sister  Margaretta  Elizabeth 
Grube,  wife  of  Bernhard  Adam  Grube,  who 
served  in  the  Indian  missions  of  Gnadenhiitten, 
Pachgotgoch  and  Wechquetauk.  The  hardships 
which  this  poor  sister  endured  were  appalling; 
with  an  iron  nerve  she  went  through  frightful  ex- 
perience. 

At  Pachgotgoch  they  lived  in  a  wigwam.  The 
snows  of  winter  fell  deep  around  them,  and  the 
bitter  cold  of  the  mountains  was  so  intense  that 
to  save  her  baby's  life  she  made  its  sleeping  place 
between  two  great  Indian  dogs ! 

Finally  they  were  called  to  Lititz,  her  husband 
as  pastor  and  she  as  Deaconess  of  the  Married 
Sisters,  and  she  was  able  to  again  enjoy  the  com- 
forts of  civilization  with  participation  in  the  life 
of  the  church. 

Their  daughter  Anna  Johanna  married  Broth- 


30      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


er  John  Martin  Beck ;  their  descendants  are  liv- 
ing in  Lititz  to-day. 

The  Moravians  finally  gave  up  their  Indian 
missions  due  to  troubles  arising  through  the  miS' 
understanding  of  their  motives. 

With  Government  interference  and  when  the 
Government  itself  announced  its  desire  to  take 
charge  of  the  Indians,  they  were  moved  to  Brad- 
ford County,  and  a  new  era  began. 

Another  great  change  in  the  year  1762,  was  the 
dissolution  of  the  Economy.  Each  citizen  could 
now  work  for  himself  and  family  and  carry  on 
business  in  his  own  name,  but  the  towns  still  re- 
mained exclusive  Moravian  settlements. 

At  this  time  news  of  the  death  of  Count  Zin- 
zendorf  was  received  and  Bishop  Spangenburg 
and  his  wife  were  recalled  to  Europe.  A  fare- 
.-^  w^ell  love-feast  was  given  to  them,  after  which 
they  departed  for  Philadelphia  and  set  sail  for 
England  from  that  port. 

The  Brethren  had  special  hymns  for  their 
travellers  by  land  or  sea,  and  we  may  be  quite 
sure  that  at  the  love  feast  for  the  Spangenburgs' 
several  of  them  were  sung.  With  the  prospect 
of  the  long  voyage  before  them,  perhaps  one  of 
those  they  sang  was  the  following : 

1165— T.  22. 
Lord,  speed  the  vessel  in  its  course: 

Let  winds  and  wave  propitious  be; 
Let  Thy  divine  protection  shield 

All  whom  we  now  commend  to  Thee. 


Anna  Mtschman 


Hallowed  to  Thee  be  every  heart: 
Instructed  in  Thy  righteous  will. 

Where'er  they  go,  whate'er  they  do. 
In  all,  Thy  great  designs  fulfill. 

O  God  of  Bethel,  hear  our  prayer. 
And  keep  Thy  servants  to  the  end; 

Then  let  us  meet  around  Thy  throne, 
A  blest  eternity  to  spend. 


II 

The  Choir  of  the  Single  Sistees 


It' 

56,  A. 


 ^  ' 

We,  0  Jesus,  We,  0  Jesus  claim  Thy  special  care, 

Lord,  preserve  us,  Lord,  preserve  us  from  each  hurtful  snare; 


II 


The  Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters 

SISTER  Anna  Nitschman,  who  so  indelibly 
impressed  her  gentleness  and  virtue  upon 
her  sisters  in  the  faith,  laid  aside  her  of- 
fice as  Eldress  in  Herrnhut  when  she  came  to  the 
work  in  Pennsylvania,  but  she  earned  another 
title  in  her  new  home;  one  bestowed  upon  her 
in  pure  affection;  "The  Mother,"  sometimes 
"Mother  Ann."  Venerated  as  was  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf  himself,  she  was  also  generally  beloved,  a 
combination  that  does  not  always  occur. 

The  "Choir"  system  was  an  outgrowth  of  her 
"Covenant"  of  May  4th,  1730,  in  Herrnhut,  an  ex- 
perience which  is  historic,  and  is  celebrated  on 
every  May  4th,  as  the  Festival  of  the  Single  Sis- 
ters. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  give  Sister  Nitsch- 
man's  own  description  of  this  event,  written  free- 
ly, and  with  no  idea  of  its  far  reaching  signifi- 
cance. 

"On  the  4th  of  May,  1730,  all  the  Single  Sis- 
ters, eighteen  in  number,  who  loved  the  Lord 
Jesus,  were  assembled  at  a  love  feast  in  the  house 
of  David  Nitschman  the  Weaver,  on  which  occa- 
sion it  was  made  plain  to  them  what  it  really 

35 


36     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters. 

meant  to  be  a  member  of  this  choir,  and  how  they 
should  honor  the  Lord  and  be  a  source  of  joy  to 
the  Congregation. 

"Therefore  we  formed  a  Covenant  to  be  faith- 
ful handmaids  of  the  Lamb. 

"Oh !  how  agreeable  this  was  to  me,  for  before 
this  already,  everything  was  disagreeable  to  me 
that  was  not  pleasing  to  the  Saviour,  and  as  I 
now  had  more  companions  who  were  of  the  same 
mind  with  me,  so  it  can  be  imagined  that  this 
was  a  great  spiritual  joy  to  me. 

"The  words  which  at  that  time  were  so  deeply 
impressed  upon  my  heart,  were : 

Oh,  thou  Bride  of  the  Soul  I 
Should  our  souls 

Who  Thee  knew,  who  Thee  name 

Follow  any  other  Star? 

This  poor  creature  is  much  too  |malll 

Our  spirit  desires  the  King 

For  our  souls  are  the  Lord's. 

"This  was  my  inmost  feeling,  and  I  vowed  that 
I  would  be  faithful  to  the  Bridegroom.  What 
experience  of  His  great  love  toward  me,  I  had  I 
cannot  describe." 

Surely  this  was  written  from  the  depth  of  her 
being !  A  nun,  keeping  midnight  vigil  before  the 
altar,  could  not  have  attained  greater  heights 
that  did  this  daughter  of  a  carpenter,  in  the  sim- 
ple cottage. 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  37 

Count  Zinzendorf  bestowed  much  thought 
upon  the  arrangement  of  the  choir  system,  and 
the  admirable  outcome  was  largely  due  to  his  ad- 
ministrative ability. 

He  divided  the  congregation  into  choirs,  or 
classes ;  the  children,  the  older  girls,  the  single 
sisters,  the  married  sisters  and  brethren,  the 
widows  and  widowers,  the  older  boys  and  single 
brethren. 

Each  choir  had  its  own  house  and  duties,  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  from  all  of  the  others,  its  stated 
meetings,  and  special  hymns  and  liturgies  re- 
served for  its  use,  but  all  assembled  together  on 
general  church  occasions. 

The  sisters  dressed  uniformly  in  the  quiet 
colors  of  gray  or  brown,  with  white  for  festival 
occasions;  and  each  wore  the  white  cap  or 
Schnepplehaube  (cornered  cap)  which  has  be- 
come so  familiar  through  their  portraits.  All  of 
the  caps  were  tied  under  the  chin  by  a  ribbon  bow 
of  different  colors  to  distinguish  the  choir.  The 
children  wore  the  red  ribbons;  the  older  girls 
light  red ;  the  single  sisters,  pink ;  the  married 
women  blue  and  the  widows  the  white  bow. 
Made  of  a  very  fine  linen,  and  severely  plain,  the 
cap  came  into  a  sharp  point  in  the  middle  of  the 
forehead.  There  was  a  quilted  interlining  for 
cold  weather,  and  both  inner  and  outer  caps,  and 
the  separate  band  bore  the  initials  of  the  owner 
in  cross  stitched  letters  scarce  a  quarter  of  an 


38     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


inch  in  height,  and  the  number  one,  two  or  three, 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  separate  parts  of 
each  cap  together.  The  children  wore  a  cap  of  a 
different  pattern,  viz :  a  square  of  fine  linen  with 
one  point  coming  over  the  forehead,  and  the  two 
points  over  the  ears  caught  with  the  ribbon  ties. 
The  older  girls  wore  a  three  cornered  cap  with 
their  light  red  bow  on  top  of  the  cap,  as  well  as 
ribbon  ties. 

These  ribbon  bows  were  of  great  importance, 
and  had  quite  a  ritual  of  their  own.  The  older 
girls,  who  wore  the  light  red  ribbons,  were  in- 
vested with  the  pink  bow  of  the  single  sisters  by 
the  Deaconess  of  that  choir  in  the  solitude  of  her 
room  upon  the  occasion  of  their  entrance  into 
that  choir.  When  a  single  sister  entered  into  the 
happy  state  of  matrimony,  she  went  to  the  cere- 
mony wearing  her  cap  tied  with  its  pink  bow. 
Immediately  after  the  pastor's  wife,  who  was  al- 
ways Deaconess  of  the  married  sisters,  took 
charge  of  the  bride,  retired  with  her  to  the  vestry, 
and  invested  her  with  the  dignity  of  the  blue  bow. 
After  which  they  rejoined  the  company,  and  all 
repaired  to  the  place  where  the  feast  was  spread. 
Here,  for  the  first  time,  w^as  the  bride  privileged 
to  wear  the  veil  and  orange  blossoms. 

And  when  the  sad  occasion  came  to  wear  the 
white  bow  of  widowhood,  it  was  the  Deaconess 
of  the  widows  who  put  the  symbolic  ribbon  in  its 
place,  a  mournful  privilege  requiring  much  gen- 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  39 


tleness,  and  consideration,  but  also  with  a  solemn 
joy;  for  the  Moravian  belief  is  that  there  is  no 
"death" ;  it  is  "being  called  home,"  and  so  it  was 
spoken  of.  Even  now  the  phrase  is  "departed 
this  life." 

The  dress  was  an  absolutely  plain  garment ;  a 
very  full  skirt  gathered  to  a  close  fitting  basque, 
and  without  a  ruffle.  Ruffles  were  considered 
worldly,  an  evidence  of  vanity,  and  it  was  a  cen- 
tury before  they  were  used  by  the  more  daring 
sisters,  who  w^ere  frowned  upon  even  then,  by  the 
old  people,  for  their  frivolity. 

The  street  costume  was  a  close  bonnet  and  a 
full  cape  not  unlike  the  Puritan  style. 

This  garb  was  accepted  without  question  and 
worn  with  simplicity,  and  it  certainly  was  a 
great  aid  to  the  spiritual  life ;  for  with  a  mind 
freed  from  all  petty  details  of  dress  and  fashion, 
it  was  far  easier  to  maintain  the  quiet  serenity 
necessary  to  concentrate  upon  the  inner  life. 

For  more  than  a  century  the  choirs  occupied 
their  own  houses.  The  married  brethren  and 
sisters  in  one  building  and  later  in  their  own 
homes  as  they  built  them  and  the  population 
grew  beyond  the  original  housing  plan.  (In 
Bethlehem  the  married  Brethren's  House  stood 
upon  the  site  of  the  present  church. )  The  single 
sisters  and  single  brethren  each  had  their  own, 
the  older  girls  were  allotted  a  few  rooms  in  the 
sister's  House  and  the  children  were  taken  care 


40      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

of  in  tlie  Nursery,  a  stone  building  which  then  oc- 
cupied the  present  site  of  the  Moravian  Book- 
store, the  caretakers  being  an  elderly  married 
pair  assisted  by  some  of  the  widows. 

The  widows  lived  in  the  massive  stone  house, 
opposite  the  sisters'  house,  built  for  them  in  1769. 

All  of  these  buildings  at  that  time  had  their 
private  chapels  where  the  various  festivals  were 
celebrated  and  daily  services  held. 

Previous  to  all  annual  Festivals  and  Sacra- 
ments, there  w^as  a  short  period  of  spiritual  prep- 
aration for  the  celebrating  Choir,  each  member 
of  w^hich  would  privately  visit  his  or  her  Pfleger 
or  Pflegerin  (superintendent  or  Deaconess)  for 
guidance  and  prayer.  The  Festal  Day  itself  was, 
and  is,  announced  from  the  belfry  of  the  church 
by  the  trombone  choir,  and  a  love  feast  and  a  spe- 
cial communion  were,  and  are  celebrated  at  a 
later  time  of  the  day. 

A  love  feast  is  a  religious  service  held  to  com- 
memorate important  and  eventful  occasions,  joy- 
ful, or  solemn  and  impressive,  and  usually  in  the 
church.  It  is  characterized  by  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful music  of  the  highest  order,  by  choir  and  or- 
chestra, and  congregational  singing,  and  by  the 
serving  of  coffee  and  buns,  which,  to  quote 
Reichel,  "is  to  remind  the  members  in  a  pleasing 
manner  of  the  family  bond  which  unites  them  as 
brethren  and  sisters  in  common  love  to  Christ." 
In  these  early  days  love  feasts  were  held  on  any 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  41 


and  every  occasion ;  in  the  home,  the  school  and 
often  outdoors.  A  small  or  large  number  of  peo- 
ple might  be  present,  with  or  without  the  pastor. 
But  always  there  was  the  singing  of  the  beautiful 
hymns  in  a  heartfelt  manner,  all  chosen  for  their 
fitness  for  the  particular  celebration. 

The  single  sisters  had  a  very  pretty  custom  of 
announcing  their  festal  day  with  an  anthem  of 
joy,  sung  at  sunrise,  and  on  first  appearing  for 
the  day,  they  would  congratulate  each  other  upon 
the  happiness  of  the  day  as  though  it  were  a 
birthday ;  which  in  a  way,  it  was,  celebrating  as 
it  did,  the  annual  anniversary  of  Anna  Nitsch- 
man's  Covenant.  These  congratulations  took 
the  form  of  a  blessing  from  the  older  to  the 
younger  ones,  and  among  the  youthful  sisters,  a 
joyful  exchange  of  good  wishes. 

The  Chapel  of  the  Sisters  was  situated  on  the 
second  floor  of  their  house,  in  the  eastern  angle 
of  the  present  court;  this  chapel  was  known  as 
the  Grosser  Saal.  The  daily  prayers  were  con- 
ducted there,  and  all  services  especially  intended 
for  the  Single  Sisters  who  attended  in  a  body 
under  the  care  of  their  Deaconess  who  usually 
conducted  the  services. 

Special  hymns  were  written  for  morning  and 
evening  prayer,  as  for  each  choir.  A  favorite 
morning  hymn  was : 

Tune  14. 

''What  secret  hand,  at  morning  light, 
By  stealth,  unseals  mine  eye. 


42      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


Draws  back  the  curtain  of  the  night, 
And  opens  earth  and  sky  ?" 

and  number  891  in  the  old  hymn  book  is  a  prayer 
that  can  well  be  sung  every  morning  forever  and 
ever :  Tune  22. 

Be  with  me  Lord,  where  'ere  I  go 

Teach  me  what  Thou  would'st  have  me  do 

Suggest  what  e'er  I  think  this  day 

Direct  me  in  the  narrow  way. 

and  an  evening  hymn  which  Zinzendorf  himself 
wrote ;  — he  wrote  many  hymns — was  a  favorite : 

Tune  68. 

J esus  hear  our  prayer 

For  Thy  children  care 

While  we  sleep  protect  and  bless  us, 

With  Thy  pardon  now  refresh  us. 

Leave  Thy  peace  divine 

With  us,  we  are  Thine. 

Another  evening  hymn,  much  loved  then  and  now 

is :  Tune  16. 

Saviour  breathe  an  evening  blessing 
E'er  repose  our  spirits  seal 
Sin  and  want  we  come  confessing 
Thou  canst  save  and  thou  canst  heal. 

It  is  inspiring  to  contemplate  these  ancient  walls 
and  realize  that  within  them,  these  fine  old  hymns 
have  been  sung  for  nigh  two  centuries  to  tunes 
that  are  older,  some  of  them,  than  the  quarried 
stones.  The  old  singers  have  gone  to  their  rest, 
followed  by  those  who  came  after  them  unto  the 
fifth  and  sixth  generation,  but  the  chorales  live 


Choir  of  tlie  Single  Sisters  43 


because  their  high  level  of  spirituality  and  ideal- 
ism, with  the  wonderful  melody  of  their  music, 
is  immortal. 

One  of  the  festival  services  was  led  by  a  min- 
ister of  a  very  impressionable  temperament,  who 
records  that  he  was  much  moved  by  the  picture 
before  him.  Bench  after  bench  was  filled  with 
maidens  from  rosy  youth  to  withered  age ;  each 
dressed  in  chaste  white,  each  one  with  the  neat 
white  cap  upon  her  head,  and  each  one  with  such 
a  shining  exaltation  upon  her  face  that  he  bowed 
his  head  in  prayer ! 

In  the  da}  s  whereof  I  write,  women's  lives  and 
interests  centered  in  the  old  stone  houses  on 
Church  Street. 

They  lived  as  one  large  family  under  the  care 
of  an  experienced  sister  known  as  the  Yorsteherin, 
or  warden,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  practical 
life  of  the  house,  looked  after  the  repairs,  and 
paying  of  bills,  the  collection  of  taxes  from  each 
sistr,  and  who  closed  up  the  house  for  the  night ; 
and  of  the  Deaconess,  who  was  their  spiritual 
head  and  final  court. 

These  two  women  were  of  the  highest  type  of 
character,  well-educated  for  that  day,  and  emi- 
nently fitted  for  the  task  of  developing  the  young 
sisters  entrusted  to  their  care. 

The  sisters  lived  in  room  company  style  under 
an  older  sister  who  was  known  as  the  Vorgesetze, 
or  forewoman,  because  she  directed  their  work. 


44      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

She  was  chosen  for  her  expertness  in  the  special 
line  of  work  done  by  that  room  company;  if  it 
was  tailoring,  then  she  thoroughly  understood 
cutting  and  sewing;  if  she  were  at  the  head  of 
the  tambour  room,  then  she  was  thoroughly  ac- 
complished in  fine  stitchery,  etc.  Two  of  the 
sisters  in  each  room  were  detailed  to  wash  and 
iron  for  the  rest  of  the  company ;  these  were  us- 
ually women  of  no  education  who  were  glad  to 
give  manual  labor. 

Each  sister  paid  a  small  sum  for  runing  ex- 
penses; five  cents  a  month  each  for  water,  fire 
and  for  candles ;  also  five  cents  a  month  toward 
the  scrubbing  expenses  of  the  great  halls  and 
dormitories.  These  small  taxes  were  handed  to 
the  forewoman  who  was  responsible  to  the  ward- 
en for  them. 

Their  day  began  at  five  a.  m.  when  the  rising 
bell  called  them  from  thier  slumbers  in  the  airy 
dormitories.  Morning  prayer  in  their  chapel 
preceded  the  breakfast  at  six  a.  m.,  after  which 
the  work  of  the  day  was  begun,  labor  which  had 
been  determined  upon  and  announced  the  eve- 
ning before.  With  such  an  early  breakfast,  a 
"piece''  at  nine  o'clock  was  a  necessity.  This 
lunch  was  plain  bread,  usually.  At  eleven-thirty 
the  big  bell  again  called  them  to  dinner  in  the 
basement  dining  hall.  The  sisters  marched  down 
two  by  two  headed  by  the  Deaconess,  and  sang 
"grace"  usually  one  verse.    The  meal  consisted 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  45 

of  broth,  meat,  and  vegetables  in  season,  with  no 
desert. 

Again  they  took  up  their  work  until  the  "ves- 
per" hour  came.  This  little  time  for  social  re- 
laxation was  an  oasis  in  the  day.  In  the  eight- 
eenth century  it  was  at  three  o'clock,  and  tea 
was  the  beverage,  but  later  it  was  advanced  an 
hour  earlier,  and  coffee  became  the  customary 
drink. 

Vespers  were  in  the  rooms  and  each  sister  had 
her  own  chair  and  strip  of  rag  carpet  or  hooked 
rug,  to  stand  the  chair  upon ;  also  her  own  mug 
and  spoon. 

They  drew  up  around  the  table  and  relaxed  for 
the  very  real  pleasure  of  the  occasion.  Bread 
and  apple  butter  were  eaten,  or  sugar  cake,  and 
by  and  by  a  bit  of  dried  beef  as  it  made  the  vesper 
more  substantial.  The  sugar  was  brown  and  was 
not  put  into  the  coffee,  but  eaten  separately  from 
the  spoon ;  this  was  called  hei-essen. 

Supper  at  five  p.  m.  was  cooked  in  their  own 
rooms  by  the  sisters  themselves.  They  were 
privileged  to  buy  their  suppers  from  the  cook,  at 
a  very  low  sum. 

Two  shillings  six  pence  per  week,  was  paid  for 
lodging,  dinner,  and  "tea  water,''  which  means 
they  were  allowed  hot  water  for  their  tea  for 
breakfasts,  vespers  and  suppers,  to  be  had  upon 
application  to  the  cook,  a  person  who  was  always 


46      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

one  of  their  own  number,  usually  an  elderly 
woman  and  skilled  in  her  art. 

One  cook  was  famous  for  her  pancakes,  and 
families  in  the  town  would  send  their  children  in 
for  them  with  plates  covered  with  bowls  to  carry 
them  home.  This  cook  was  probably  Catharine 
Crist  who  lived  as  cook  with  the  family  of  Hans 
Christian  von  Schweinitz  when  he  was  Adminis- 
trator of  the  Bethlehem  Congregation,  accom- 
panied him  to  Herrnhut,  and  on  his  death  in 
1802,  returned  again  to  Bethlehem  and  became 
cook  in  the  Sisters'  House,  dying  in  1831. 

The  hour  for  supper  was  five  o'clock  and  all 
meals  were  partaken  of  in  the  great  dining  hall, 
when  announcements  of  all  kinds  for  the  suc- 
ceeding day  were  made  at  the  evening  meal,  but 
the  routine  given  above  was  followed  for  many 
years  into  the  nineteenth  century,  by  all  of  the 
choir  houses,  the  kitchens  of  the  Widows'  and 
Sisters'  Houses  serving  the  meals  to  the  Girls' 
School  also  for  a  number  of  years. 

Evening  prayer  was  at  eight  o'clock  in  their 
chapel.  The  sisters  had  a  string  quartette  com- 
posed of  two  violins,  a  viola  and  a  'cello,  all 
played  by  members  of  their  choir,  and  this  quar- 
tette provided  the  music  for  their  chapel  services. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  warden  locked  the  house 
for  the  night,  look&d  at  the  leathern  fire  buckets 
hanging  on  their  pegs  in  the  entrance  hall,  in- 
stalled the  night  watch  of  two  sisters,  and  then 


Choir  of  Single  Sisters  47 


the  little  company  filed  up  to  the  dormitory  on 
the  top  floor.  This  was  a  very  large  hall,  with 
high  arched  ceiling  and  plenty  of  dormer  win- 
dows, making  it  airy  and  cool.  It  was  kept  sani- 
tary by  whitewash  which  gave  a  pure,  chaste  look 

to  the  place. 
^  The  beds  stood 
in  rows  and 
were  very  nar- 
row, requiring  a 
sliding  board  on 
each  side  to  pre- 
vent a  restless 
occupant  from 
falling  out. 

On  the  land- 
ing of  the  stairs 
leading  up  to 
the  dormitory 
there  is  a  small 
closet  built  into 
the  thick,  stone 
wall.  The 
frame  and  door 
of  this  closet 
were  painted  a  robin's  egg  blue  once  upon 
a  time,  and  the  panel  of  the  door  presented  a 
tempting  surface  for  decoration.  So  a  clever 
and  talented  sister  got  out  her  palette  and 
brushes  and  painted  a  beautiful  vase  of  flowers 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  CLOSET  DOOR. 


48      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


in  the  style  of  that  period,  upon  this  panel. 
Faded,  but  pure,  the  colors  are  still  good,  and  the 
antique  picture  makes  a  mute  personal  appeal 
to  those  who  come  upon  it  hidden  in  the  shadows 
of  the  landing.  For  who  painted  it?  Was  she 
one  of  those  who  came  for  only  a  few  years  bring- 
ing the  culture  of  the  old  world  with  her  and 
then  returned,  over  the  seas,  to  her  native  Sax- 
ony? Or  was  she  born  in  Bethlehem,  bred  in  the 
Sisters'  House  and  does  she  now  lie  under  the 
ancient  poplars  in  God's  Acre,  sleeping  but  a 
stone's  throw  from  the  picture  which  her  skilful 
fingers  created?  There  is  no  record  of  her  name 
unless  it  be  buried  deep  under  tons  of  yellow 
manuscript.  Perhaps  an  old  letter  will  come  to 
light  some  day  giving  the  story  of  who  did  it  and 
when. 

The  sickroom  was  near  the  dormitory.  Cor- 
ners were  curtained  off  providing  alcoves  for  seri- 
ous or  contagious  cases,  and  one  sister  was  al- 
w^ajs  the  sick  nurse.  An  offset  to  the  hall  im- 
mediately outside  the  sick  room  with  a  large  win- 
dow, provided  a  pleasant  place  for  invalids  to  sit 
during  convalescence. 

The  rooms  of  the  Deaconess  were  on  the  second 
floor  southwest  corner,  and  were  a  private  apart- 
ment of  two  rooms,  with  its  own  tiny  entrance 
hall  or  vestibule,  the  only  rooms  so  honored. 

Many  happy  days  w^ere  spent  under  this  re- 
gime.   It  was  characterized  by  extreme  simplic- 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  49 

ity,  but  that  was  a  leading  quality  of  the  Morav- 
ians,— simplicity  of  life  and  faith.  The  faith  for 
which  persecutions  had  been  endured  in  the  Old 
World  did  not  desert  them  in  the  New  World, 
and  the  expression  of  their  faith  was  a  beautiful 
one  by  reason  of  its  complete  spontaneity.  Trou- 
ble, or  joy,  it  mattered  not ;  they  took  everything 
to  God  with  the  complete  confidence  of  a  little 
child,  and  this  was  not  a  pose,  it  was  absolutely 
inherent. 

The  administration  of  such  a  system  as  was 
adopted  was  necessarily  more  or  less  rigid,  but 
every  one  gave  cheerful  and  willing  service ;  in- 
deed the  devotion  with  which  labor  was  per- 
formed was  remarkable.  They  dignified  it,  by 
making  it  a  service  to  the  community,  and  con- 
secrated it  as  a  service  to  the  Lord. 

Undoubtedly  the  singing  of  hymns  gave  an  up- 
lift to  their  energies  when  engaged  in  arduous 
duties,  for  they  did  not  sing  hymns  in  church 
services  only.  The  melody  of  their  beautiful 
hymns  was  an  aid  to  all  daily  activities,  and  fes- 
tival occasions  frequently  proved  an  inspiration 
for  new  hymns  in  honor  of  the  event.  Hymns 
were  written  for  not  only  every  occasion  but  for 
every  calling,  both  brethren  and  sisters  display- 
ing a  poetic  talent  of  no  mean  order,  as  some  of 
their  hymns  are  of  great  beauty.  Others  are  of 
great  length,  and  without  the  beauty,  but  no  call- 
ing was  forgotten,  at  any  rate.  They  were  writ- 
ten for  the  shepherds,  the  ploughmen,  the  thresh- 


50      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


THE  SUN  DIAL  DOOR. 


ers  and  reapers ; 
the  scrubbers 
and  washers ; 
the  knitters,  the 
sewers  and  spin- 
ners, and  sung 
by  all  these  peo- 
ple while  at 
their  work.  One 
of  the  spinning 
sisters  wrote 
that  ^'of  flax 
and  wool,  wors- 
ted and  cotton, 
we  spin  a  deal." 

Let  us  enter 
the  Sister  s' 
House  (in  fan- 
cy) through  the 
Door  of  the  Sun 
Dial,  with  its 
queer  tiny  glass 
transom  into  the 
spacious  corner 
room.  White- 
washed walls, 
no  carpet,  and 
simple  f  u  r  n  i- 
ture  meet  your 
eyes.    The  win- 


Choir  of  the  Single  Sisters  51 


dows  were  rather  small;  with,  many  panes  of 
glass,  and  the  thick,  stone  walls  provided  deep 
window  sills.  Looking  out  of  the  window  on  the 
green,  the  old  long-handled  pump  was  visible 
against  its  background  of  wild  locust  trees,  which 
in  May  were  covered  with  the  fragrant  pendants 
of  white  blossoms.  The  sun  inquisitively  shone 
in  the  room  all  day  long,  but  never  a  speck  of 
dust  could  he  discover,  nothing  but  a  group  of 
serene  women  at  their  spinning  wheels,  each  one 
in  her  dove  gray  gown  and  cap  with  its  rose  pink 
bow  tucked  under  the  chin.  Seated  in  their  high 
backed  chairs  they  spun  the  flax  raised  in  their 
own  fields,  and  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  their  work 
they  sang  the  hymn  written  for  the  Spinners  by 
Bishop  Spangenburg: 

Know,  ye  sisters,  in  this  way 

Is  your  work  a  blessing, 
If  for  Jesus'  sake  you  spin. 

Toiling  without  ceasing. 

Spin  and  weave,  compelled  by  love. 

Sew  and  wash  with  fervor. 
And  the  Saviour's  grace  and  love 

Make  you  glad  forever. 

Verily,  the  old  diarist  who  recorded  that  "the 
Church  taketh  especial  care  of  its  maidens," — 
spoke  the  truth. 


in 


Some  Revolutionary  Sisters  and  the  Pulaski 
Banner 


11,  D. 


m 


Hi  -r  f- 


*Twa8  the  good  physician  no"9f , 
Soothed  thy  cheek,  and  chafed  thy  brow, 


Ill 


Some  Revolutionary  Sisters  and  the 
Pulaski  Banner 

f  I  miRTY  odd  years  after  the  tounding  of 


Bethlehem,  the  war  of  the  Revolution  east 


its  shadow  upon  the  peace-loving  popula- 
tion. The  Moravians  advocated  the  principles 
of  non-combatants,  and  the  older  ones  undoubt- 
edly regretted  the  war.  But  they  were  not 
Tories.  They  were  ready  to  give  allegiance  to  a 
free  government  when  it  was  established,  and  the 
younger  men  sympathized  unreservedly  with  the 
cause  of  freedom. 

The  leaders  of  the  Revolution  respected  the 
principles  of  the  Moravians.  Later,  when  the 
service  of  nursing  the  sick  and  wounded  was  per- 
formed by  the  brethren  at  great  inconvenience  to 
themselves,  officers  of  the  army  and  Congres- 
sional representatives  who  visited  the  place  be- 
came great  friends  with  the  townspeople. 

Troops  passed  through  Bethlehem  frequently, 
in  command  of  prominent  officers,  but  the  main 
army  was  kept  away,  and  direct  contact  with  war 
was  spared  the  inhabitants.  Havoc  and  misery 
there  was,  however ;  wounded  soldiers  came  pour- 
ing in,  their  numbers  too  great  for  the  limited 
quarters,  and  many  were  sent  on  to  Nazareth. 


55 


56      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Later  Lititz,  in  Lancaster  County,  was  also  req- 
uisitioned as  a  hospital  base.  Both  in  Lititz  and 
in  Bethlehem  the  Single  Brethren  gave  up  their 
houses  for  this  purpose. 

In  Bethlehem,  the  hospital  harbored  four  hun- 
dred, and  fifty  tents  were  erected  in  the  garden 
of  the  Brethrens'  House.  Numerous  officers  had 
to  be  placed  elsewhere,  so  rapidly  did  the  place 
fill  up. 

Not  only  the  hospitals,  but  the  military  stores 
were  brought  there,  and  more  than  nine  hundred 
army  wagons  were  in  camp  in  the  country  ad- 
jacent to  what  is  now  Broad  Street. 

John  Ettwein,  pastor  of  the  church  at  this  time, 
later  a  bishop,  was  very  active,  and  took  the  lead 
in  all  matters  relating  to  the  Government  and 
the  Church.  Henry  Laurens,  of  South  Carolina 
who  was  here  in  1777,  became  a  great  friend  of 
Brother  Ettwein,  and  conducted  a  voluminous 
correspondence  with  him. 

In  September  of  1777,  Brother  Ettwein  was 
handed  the  following  order  by  Dr.  Jackson : 

"My  Deae  Sir  : 

"It  gives  me  great  pain  to  be  obliged,  by  order 
of  Congress,  to  send  my  sick  and  wounded  sol- 
diers to  your  peaceable  village — but  so  it  is. 
Your  large  buildings  must  be  appropriated  to 
their  use.   We  will  want  room  for  two  thousand 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  57 


at  Bethlehem,  Easton,  Northampton,  etc.,  and 
you  may  expect  them  on  Saturday  or  Sunday. 

"I  send  Dr.  Jackson  before  them  that  you  may 
have  time  to  order  your  affairs  in  your  best  man- 
ner. These  are  dreadful  times,,  consequences  of 
unnatural  wars.  I  am  truly  concerned  for  your 
Society,  and  wish  sincerely  this  stroke  could  be 
averted,  but  'tis  impossible.  I  beg  Mr.  Hasse's 
assistance.  Love  and  compliments  to  all  friends, 
from  My  dear  sir, 

"Your  affectionate,  humble  servant, 
"W.  Shippen,  D.G. 

"Trenton,  Sept.  18,  1777." 

Just  at  this  time  sixteen  members  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  who  had  filed  from  Philadel- 
phia at  the  approach  of  Howe's  army,  arrived  in 
Bethlehem.  They  were  much  interested  in  the 
village,  and  visited  the  Sisters'  and  Widows' 
Houses.  The  great  size  of  these  buildings  ap- 
pealed to  the  surgeons,  who  desired  to  seize  them 
at  once  for  hospital  use. 

Brother  Ettwein  was  very  much  distressed  at 
this  wish,  and  appealed  to  the  congressional  rep- 
resentatives for  aid  for  the  women,  who,  driven 
out  of  their  homes,  would  have  no  place  to  live. 

They  gave  the  matter  careful  consideration, 
and  then  drew  up  the  following  order : 

"Bethlehem,  Sept.  22, 1777. 
"Having  here  observed  a  humane  and  diligent 


58      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


attention  to  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  a  benevo- 
lent desire  to  make  the  necessary  provision  for 
the  relief  of  the  distressed  as  far  as  the  power  of 
the  Brethren  enables  them. 

"We  desire  that  all  Continental  officers  may  re- 
frain from  disturbing  the  persons  or  property  of 
the  Moravians  in  Bethlehem,  and  particularly, 
that  they  do  not  disturb  or  molest  the  houses 
where  the  women  are  assembled. 

"Given  under  our  hands  at  the  time  and  place 
above  mentioned. 

Nathan  Brownson  William  Duer 

Nathan  Folsom  Cornelius  Harnett 

Kichard  Law  Henry  Laurens 

John  Hancock  Benjamin  Harrison 

Samuel  Adams  Jos.  Jones 

Eliph  Dyer  John  Adams 

Jas.  Duane  Henry  Marchant 

Kichard  Henry  Lee  William  A  vllliams 

"Delegates  to  Congress." 

The  most  notable  of  the  wounded  soldiers  quar- 
tered in  the  town  was  General  La  Fayette. 

Wounded  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine  he  came 
for  medical  care,  and  after  a  few  days  at  the  old 
Sun  Inn  he  was  taken  to  the  Beckel  home  near 
by,  where  Sister  Barbara  Beckel  and  her  daugh- 
ter, Liesel,  were  his  devoted  nurses. 

He  was  not  very  ill,  so  in  a  short  time  he  was 
able  to  play  the  part  of  interesting  convalescent. 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  59 


Seated  in  a  high-backed,  winged  chair,  softly 
padded  in  red  velvet,  he  accepted  with  charming 
French  courtesy  the  attentions  given  him. 

His  facile  tongue  painted  his  adventures  in 
glowing  colors,  and  the  simple  maiden  Liesel, 
was  completely  dazzled  by  the  brilliant  soldier. 
Her  father  became  seriously  alarmed  and  has 
recorded  his  anxiety  for  his  pretty,  blue-eyed 
daughter  in  his  diary. 

But  events  showed  that  in  his  unsophisticated 
seclusion,  he  saw  danger  where  there  was  none. 
His  worry  was  needless,  for  in  a  month  the  gay 
French  marquis  rode  away  expressing  only  deep 
gratitude,  and  future  pleasant  memories. 

Sister  Liesel  never  married.  What  emotion 
lay  deep  in  her  heart  no  one  knows ;  but  she  dedi- 
cated her  life  to  the  care  of  the  sick,  becoming  the 
town  nurse. 

The  great  walnut  chair  in  which  the  famous 
soldier  held  his  court  during  convalesence,  was 
carefully  preserved,  and  is  in  the  same  family 
to  this  day. 

This  episode  is  one  of  the  high  lights  of  that 
trying  time,  for  the  winter  of  '77  was  filled  with 
great  anxiety  and  self-sacrifice  for  these  people. 

After  the  battle  of  Germantown,  Gen.  Wash- 
ington issued  a  call  for  blankets  and  clothing  for 
the  suffering  troops.  The  Moravians  made  volun- 
tary gifts  that  gave  satisfaction  to  the  military 
authorities.  But  there  were  always  camp  follow- 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  61 


ers  who  made  trouble,  and  rough  and  unruly  sol- 
diers who  wanted  clothing.  One  of  these  forced 
his  way  into  the  Gemein  House,  broke  open  a 
clothes  press,  and  grabbed  what  he  could.  When 
pursued,  he  dropped  his  plunder,  which  was  re- 
covered, happily  for  the  owners,  who,  doubtless 
had  not  only  made  the  garments,  but  spun  the 
wool  and  wove  the  cloth. 

Another  attempt  was  made  on  the  Sisters' 
House ;  but  the  thief  was  frightened  off  before  he 
had  secured  very  much. 

So  these  poor  women  lived  in  daily  terror  and 
many  a  vigil  of  prayer  was  held  for  safety  and 
guidance.  The  huge  iron  keys  were  turned  in 
the  heavy  locks,  and  a  watch  was  set,  one  of  the 
brethren  doing  this  for  them  at  the  request  of 
the  deaconess,  Sister  Susel  von  Gersdorf. 

At  the  time  of  General  Gates  coming  to  Beth- 
lehem, there  was  great  alarm. 

The  diarist  of  the  Sisters'  House  records  "in 
the  evening  just  at  supper  time  we  were  very 
much  frightened  by  a  light-minded  neighbor-man 
running  in  and  saying  that  they  had  heard  shoot- 
ing and  troops  were  coming ! 

Sister  Susel  calmed  him.  But  in  the  same  hour 
other  people  came  in  tumultously,  and  said  that 
General  Lee  was  in  Istown  (Easton)  with  four 
thousand  men,  and  he  wanted  to  quarter  them 
here  for  a  rest,  and  expected  proper  conditions 
for  them ! 


62      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

"We  did  not  know  what  to  do,  but  petitioned 
the  watchman,  Israel,  to  see  that  our  possessions 
would  be  unharmed. 

"Jane  Burnet,  who  was  ill  in  the  sick-room, 
was  made  very  ill  by  the  excitement. 

"Gen.  Gates  arrived  the  next  day  at  noon  with 
five  hundred  men,  and  visited  our  house  in  the 
afternoon  with  several  officers.  On  the  same 
afternoon  Brother  Ettwein  received  an  express 
messenger  from  Gen.  Sullivan,  asking  that  ac- 
commodations be  ready  for  four  thousand  men 
who  would  arrive  in  a  few  hours. 

"Brother  Ettwein  at  once  addressed  himself  to 
Gen.  Gates,  who  immediately  sent  his  adjutant 
saying  that  the  order  had  been  carried  out  and 
they  were  already  very  near  Bethlehem ;  but  he 
would  direct  them  on  another  road. 

"Alas !  It  was  too  late !  At  four  o'clock  Gen. 
Sullivan  came  into  the  village  with  four  thousand 
many  of  them  prisoners  of  war!  With  much 
forethough  he  stationed  his  own  officers  at  our 
house  so  no  harm  could  come  to  us. 

"We  made  arrangements  that  all  the  single  sis- 
ters and  girls  of  the  village  should  come  in  the 
house  for  the  night. 

"Brother  Ettwein  brought  General  Sullivan 
and  some  officers  to  call  who  looked  very  grand 
but  seemed  very  agreeable.  Our  sisters  were 
asked  to  sing  for  them  and  play  on  the  zither. 

"Our  guard  was  changed  every  three  hours, 


Some  Revolutionary  Sisters  63 

and  when  they  were  relieved  they  enjoyed  a  meal 
in  Sister  Susel's  room.  In  the  night  an  English 
speaking  sister  handed  them  hot  coffee  or  wine 
out  of  the  window, — whichever  they  wanted. 

"This  guard  was  continued  for  the  three  days 
and  nights  they  were  here.  Their  conduct  was 
very  quiet  and  respectful,  so  we  were  very  grate- 
ful to  the  Lord. 

"Before  they  left  Sister  Susel  showed  them 
around  the  house  and  thanked  them,  and  Sister 
Becky  Langly  addressed  Gen.  Gates  and  handed 
Mm  a  beautifully  worked  pocketbook,  made  by 
our  sisters,  which  he  received  very  graciously. 

"In  the  afternoon  they  marched  away,  very 
much  pleased  with  the  Brethren. 

"In  the  evening  Brother  Ettwein  conducted  a 
service  of  thanks  in  our  chapel,  at  which  Susel 
assisted  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"During  the  night  Jane  Burnet  passed  away 
from  a  severe  hemorrhage.  She  was  consumptive 
and  the  excitement  was  too  much  for  her." 

This  is  a  free  translation  of  a  most  vivid  ac- 
count of  the  time;  the  original  is  in  German  as 
were  all  the  records  then. 

It  was  these  very  dangers  and  troubles  how- 
ever that  were  responsible  for  one  of  the  most 
famous  romantic  stories  of  the  Revolution,  the 
story  of  the  Pulaski  banner. 

Count  Casimir  Pulaski  was  first  in  Bethlehem 
on  Maunday  Thursday,  in  the  Holy  Week  of 


64      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

1778,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Kobatsch,  a  Prus- 
sian officer.  The  two  foreigners  attended  the 
church  service  always  held  on  Maunday  Thurs- 
day, and  at  that  time  in  the  Old  Chapel  on  Cedar 
Square,  and  were  very  much  impressed  by  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion. 

Pulaski  made  several  visits,  and  was  shown 
around  the  village  by  the  guide  appointed  for 
such  purposes.  The  brethren  found  it  necessary 
to  have  an  official  guide,  as  so  many  people  came 
to  visit  Bethlehem,  that  it  took  up  entirely  too 
much  time  for  the  pastor  or  his  assistants,  and 
so  a  special  position  was  created,  and  a  brother 
appointed  to  fill  it. 

Count  Pulaski  was  charmed  with  all  that  he 
saw  and  heard  in  Bethlehem  and  w^hen  again  un- 
ruly troops  threatened  the  seclusion  and  peace  of 
the  poor  sisters,  he,  too,  detailed  a  guard  for  its 
doors,  and  one  night  stood  guard  himself. 

The  sisters  were  so  grateful  to  him  that  they 
desired  to  express  their  appreciation  in  a  sub- 
stantial way.  Sister  von  Gersdorf  suggested  the 
making  of  a  banner  for  the  gallant  Pole,  and 
placed  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  Sister  Kebecca 
Langly. 

Becky,  as  she  was  called,  was  an  expert  needle- 
woman, who  had  introduced  the  making  of  fine 
embroideries  into  the  Sisters'  House,  and  she 
designed  the  banner.  Six  young  women,  one  of 
whom  was  her  sister  Erdmuth,  assisted  her,  and 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  65 

when  completed  it  was  a  thing  of  beauty.  Not 
large,  it  was  designed  to  be  carried  on  a  lance. 
Made  of  scarlet  silk  with  a  green  fringe,  it  had 
a  very  elaborate  design  upon  it  embroidered  in 
yellow. 

I  regret  to  say,  there  is  no  record  of  a  presen- 
tation such  as  there  was  of  the  gift  of  General 
Gates,  and  so  the  beautiful  poem  written  by 
Longfellow,  is  only  exquisite  fancy.  But  the 
lines, 

"The  warrior  took  the  banner  proud 
And  it  was  his  martial  cloak  and  shroud." 

were  partly  true,  as  Pulaski  fell  at  the  battle  of 
Savannah  while  carrying  it. 

Wounded  unto  death,  he  was  carried  aboard  a 
vessel  in  the  harbor.  His  first  lieutenant  caught 
the  banner  as  it  fell,  and  through  him  it  was 
sent  to  Baltimore  ,where  it  was  finally  presented 
to  the  Maryland  Historical  Society  in  whose  care 
it  now  is.  The  brilliant  crimson  is  darkened  by 
time  to  a  reddish  brown,  the  yellows  are  dulled, 
but  the  exquisite  stichery  is  still  there,  put  in  by 
the  skilled  fingers  long  since  crumbled  to  dust. 

The  banner  was  carried  in  the  procession  which 
welcomed  Lafayette  to  Baltimore  in  1824.  Per- 
haps the  sight  of  the  banner  recalled  the  sweet 
Moravian  sisters  to  Lafayette,  for  once  more  he 
came  to  Bethlehem.  His  faithful  little  nurse  lay 
in  the  old  graveyard,  her  ministry  over;  but  hQ 


66      !A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

chatted  with  her  step-mother  then  living  in  the 
Gemein  House. 

The  Langly  sisters  were  from  Northampton, 
England,  and  were  of  good  family,  education  and 
breeding.  Keverses  of  fortune  had  sent  their  fa- 
ther to  the  West  Indies  where  he  tried  to  recup- 
erate his  losses.  His  daughters  came  to  Bethle- 
hem, and  joined  the  sisterhood.  The  health  of 
the  father  broke  down,  he  came  to  his  daughters 
in  Bethlehem  and  they  nursed  him  tenderly  un- 
til his  death  in  1778. 

Becky  must  have  been  a  woman  of  a  notable 
personality,  for  we  find  frequent  mention  of  her 
in  the  old  records.  The  old  scribes  were  not 
much  concerned  with  anything  but  spiritual  ex- 
perience, so  that  when  a  sister  is  constantly 
spoken  of,  it  is  quite  certain  she  was  a  woman  re- 
markable for  strength  or  sweetness  of  character 
and  accomplishments,  and  unconsciously  the 
diarists  came  under  her  influence  and  involun- 
tarily gave  her  just  due. 

Susel  von  Gersdorf  and  Anna  von  Marshall 
were  women  of  this  type,  both  of  whom  became 
deaconess  in  turn.  It  is  tantalizing  to  know  so 
much  of  part  of  their  lives  and  so  little  of  their 
every-day  lives. 

It  is  quite  a  surprise  to  discover  so  many  aris- 
tocratic names  on  the  registers  of  those  old 
houses. 

Eefined,  cultured  women  of  many  accomplish- 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  67 

ments  which  would  have  decorated  court  circles, 
braved  the  voyage  across  the  ocean  and  the  hard- 
ships of  pioneer  life.  Undoubtedly  their  influ- 
ence was  of  a  very  great  importance  in  the  town, 
and  one  of  the  results  of  the  presence  of  educated 
women  and  men, — for  there  were  many  univer- 
sity men  among  the  brethren — was  that  cultiva- 
tion of  fine  music  for  which  the  Moravians  have 
always  been  noted. 

Artists  there  were,  too,  of  no  mean  skill,  his- 
torians of  note,  and  poets.  Penmanship  was 
practiced  to  perfection.  Exquisite,  ornamental 
lettering  was  done,  with  only  a  quill  pen  and  col- 
ored inks,  work  so  ornate  that  a  day  would  not 
suffice  to  complete  a  title  page. 

And  these  things  were  done  not  only  in  Bethle- 
hem, but  in  all  of  the  Moravian  villages,  Naza- 
reth, Lititz,  and  Salem,  North  Carolina. 

When  the  Continental  hospital  was  established 
in  the  House  of  Single  Brethren  at  Lititz,  Sister 
Becky  Langly  went  over  to  help  nurse  the  sick 
and  wounded. 

Travel  in  those  days  was  by  horseback,  or 
coach,  and  probably  the  sister  took  the  stage 
coach  from  Bethlehem  to  Philadelphia.  Besting 
in  that  city  over  night,  she  went  out  the  next  day 
over  the  old  Lancaster  turnpike,  and  reached 
Lititz  via  Lancaster. 

Going  direct  to  the  Sisters'  House  fronting  the 
square,  Becky  was  warmly  greeted  by  Sister 


68      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


Polly  Penry,  formerly  an  inmate  of  the  Bethle- 
hem Sisters'  House. 

The  two  friends  were  happy  to  be  together 
again  and  many  were  the  confidences  I  am  sure 
before  the  early  bed-time  came. 

The  Brethren's  and  Sisters'  Houses  in  Lititz, 
and  the  Gemeinhaus  (now  the  parsonage)  front 
on  a  large  square  which  lies  to  the  south  of  the 
street.  These  splendid  stone  buildings  were  put 
up  by  Claus  Coelln,  the  master-carpenter  who 
lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  always  contemplated 
his  work  with  great  pride  and  justly  so. 

The  Sisters'  House  and  the  Brethren's  House 
have  the  width  of  the  square  between  them,  with 
the  House  of  God  in  the  center ;  a  colonial  church 
with  its  ancient  belfry  pointing  up  to  the  stars. 

Here  was  the  scene  of  Becky's  new  labors. 
What  a  relief  it  was  to  the  faithful  nurses  to  run 
out  into  the  green  square  for  a  little  fresh  air ! 
Surgeons  and  nurses  worked  in  the  most  devoted 
manner.  When  the  hospital  was  removed  and 
the  doctors  left  town,  one  of  them.  Dr.  Brown, 
wrote  to  Becky  as  follows 

"Yellow  Springs,  August  25, 1778. 

"I  congratulate  you  and  all  the  members  of 
your  peaceful  society  on  the  prospect  we  now 
have  of  the  termination  of  war  and  bloodshed  in 
this  country,  and  that  we  shall  soon  be  restored 
again  to  that  tranquility  and  domestic  paradise 
which  were  enjoyed  in  this  country  in  its  infancy 


Some  Kevolutionary  Sisters  69 


before  it  had  become  considerable  and  wealthy 
enough  to  attract  the  attention,  or  excite  the 
avarice  or  ambition  of  tyrannical  princes  and  op- 
pressive luxurious  and  corrupted  ministers  of 
state." 

and  also  to  Polly  Penry  he  wrote  from  the  same 
place : 

"I  give  you  joy  of  having  your  place  restored 
again  to  its  primitive  quietness  by  the  removal 
of  so  heterogeneous  and  disorderly  set  of  guests 
as  our  soldiery  are  to  the  people  of  your  Society 
and  I  hope  you  will  never  be  disturbed  in  like 
manner  again." 

These  letters  have  been  preserved  and  are  now 
in  the  archives  at  Lititz. 

Sister  Langly  returned  to  her  home  in  Bethle- 
hem, and  again  assumed  the  direction  of  the  fine 
needlework  which  had  grown  to  be  a  big  business 
many  orders  coming  in  from  other  places. 

Sister  Susel  von  Gersdorf  as  deaconess  was 
yery  much  beloved,  even  the  diarist  writes  always 
of  her  in  a  most  affectionate  manner. 

Her  service  in  Bethlehem  was  through  the 
Revolution  and  for  some  time  afterward  at  a 
period  when  men  famous  the  world  over  visited 
the  little  town,  and  she  was  called  upon  to  show 
the  Sisters'  House  to  callers. 

One  of  these  travelers  was  the  Marquis  de 
Chastellux,  who  had  entered  the  American  army 
under  Rochambeau.    This  gentleman  published 


70      'A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

a  book  on  his  travels  and  in  it  writes  at  length  of 
the  Moravians,  referring  especially  to  "Madam 
von  Gersdorf,  a  woman  of  family  who  did  not 
presume  upon  her  high  birth/'  and  further,  that 
"she  looked  rather  surprised  at  the  offer  of  his 
hand  upon  descending  the  stairs 

The  Brethren  allowed  no  social  intercourse  be- 
tween the  sexes,  even  in  church  they  were  not  per- 
mitted to  sit  together,  so  the  little  politeness 
from  the  Frenchman  was  like  an  echo  from  the 
past. 

In  April  of  1784,  the  corner  stone  of  the  Single 
Sisters'  House  at  Nazareth  was  laid  on  Easter 
Monday;  and  on  December  13th,  only  seven 
months  later,  the  completed  building  was  dedi- 
cated and  occupied. 

To  one  who  views  the  massive  stone  walls,  the 
solidity  of  the  structure,  it  seems  impossible  that 
it  was  finished  in  seven  short  months.  But  such 
was  their  energy  in  those  days. 

On  November  9th,  Sister  Susel  moved  to  Naz- 
areth to  assume  the  duties  of  deaconess  and  had 
the  happiness  of  joining  in  the  dedication.  Many 
guests  from  Bethlehem  arrived  for  the  oc- 
casion, including  twenty-two  of  the  Single  Sis- 
ters. They  came  by  wagon,  and  a  cold  drive  it 
must  have  been  at  that  time  of  the  year. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  the  sisters,  arrayed  in 
brown  dresses,  proceeded  in  pairs  from  their  old 
to  their  new  abode,  led  by  the  trombone  choir 


Some  Eevolutionar}^  Sisters  71 


sounding  the  chorales  of  consecration. 

A  love  feast  was  celebrated  and  the  Psalm  of 
Dedication  was  sung  with  orchestral  accompani- 
ment. 

After  an  early  evening  service  in  the  chajjel, 
the  holy  communion  was  celebrated,  at  whicli 
Susel  assisted. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  sisters  all 
assembled  in  the  dormitory,  when  Brother  Jo- 
hannes de  Watteville,  delivered  an  impressive 
address.  After  he  retired,  a  group  of  Bethlehem 
sisters  led  by  Anna  von  Marschall  with  her  gui- 
tar, serenaded  them  at  the  door  of  the  dormitory. 

So  ended  a  happy  day  for  all  and  a  day  of  com- 
plete accomplishment  for  Susel.  Three  years 
more  did  she  remain  there,  and  then,  on  June  4, 
1784,  returned  to  her  native  country,  accom- 
panied by  Bishop  and  Sister  de  Watteville,  who 
had  completed  three  years  of  service  in  America. 

Tune  79. 

Attend  me,  Lord,  in  all  my  ways ; 
Open  my  lips  to  sing  Thy  praise. 

For  blessings  freely  given; 
In  all  my  journeys  here  below 
Let  Thy  kind  presence  with  me  go ; 
And  grant  me  once  to  rest  in  heaven. 


IV 

Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century 


-a  ^  r%. 

L# — 

*Ti8  the  most  blest  and  needful  part 
To  have  in  Christ  a  share, 


IV 


Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century 

SISTEE  YO^  GERSDORF  returned  to 
Europe  at  a  time  when  new  ideas  were 
sprouting  in  Bethlehem.  It  was  impossi- 
ble for  any  community  to  pass  unscathed  through 
such  an  upheaval  as  the  American  Revolution. 
The  influx  of  visitors  to  the  little  settlement, 
statesmen,  and  soldiers  of  all  nations,  alone 
would  leave  its  impress  upon  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people.  Add  to  this  the  freedoLi 
of  thought  and  liberty  of  speech  which  were  the 
direct  result  of  the  war,  and  you  have  a  nice 
little  problem  in  psychology  for  a  set  of  people 
who  had  planned  to  live  according  to  their  light 
"shut  in  from  all  the  world  without.'' 

Young  folks  have  a  habit  of  growing  up  and 
forming  their  own  opinions.  Old  folks  are  al- 
ways amazed  when  this  takes  place,  and  fre- 
quently oppose  it.  This  is  what  happened  at 
Bethlehem,  gave  the  Church  fathers  something  to 
think  about  and  caused  much  concern.  Also,  the 
European  War  re-acted  on  the  colonies  and  hard 
times  and  high  prices  came  again. 

The  sisters  prayed  constantly  for  the  restor- 
ation of  peace  to  the  world,  but  also  prayed  for 

75 


76      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

resignation  to  the  Divine  Will,  "Whichever  party 
gained  the  day,  being  well-assured  that  nothing 
can  befall  us,  except  He  permits,  and  He  has 
undoubted  wise  ends  with  everything  that  He 
permits,  though  we  are  too  short-sighted  to  pene- 
trate them." 

These  sentiments  are  part  of  a  letter  written 
at  that  time  to  the  "Home  folks"  in  Europe.  De- 
spite the  many  occupations  and  industries  of  our 
forefathers,  they  found  much  time  to  give  to  let- 
ter-writing, describing  the  new  world  and  new 
life  in  detail,  and  keeping  in  comparatively  close 
touch  with  the  old  world  and  old  life  through  the 
letters  which  they  received  in  reply. 

The  value  which  was  placed  upon  correspon- 
dence a  hundred  years  ago  was  evidenced  by  the 
way  it  was  treasured,  and  the  packets  of  yellow- 
ing letters  tied  with  faded  ribbons  are  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  students  of  a  by-gone  day. 

The  mantle  of  Susel  von  Gersdorf  fell  upon 
capable  shoulders,  those  of  Elizabeth  Lewis  who 
had  been  deaconess  of  the  Single  Sisters  at  Ful- 
neck  on  the  Yorkshire  Moors  and  at  Dublin,  Ire- 
land. 

Associated  with  her,  as  warden,  was  Anna  von 
Marschall,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Baron  Fred- 
erick von  Marschall,  who  brought  his  family  to 
this  country  and  became  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished administrators  of  the  Church  in 
Salem,  North  Carolina.    Two  of  his  daughters 


Sister  Owen  Rice:  born  Schropp 


Introducing  the  Mneteenth  Century  77 

came  to  Bethlehem  to  live,  the  elder  one,  Maria 
Theresa,  became  the  bride  of  Hans  Christian  von 
Schweinitz,  Administrator  in  Bethlehem;  and 
Anna,  the  second  one,  became  the  well-known 
warden  of  the  Single  Sisters. 

These  girls  were  born  in  London  and  came  to 
this  country  in  1761  with  their  parents,  on  the 
"Hope"  one  of  the  Moravian  vessels  for  the  trans- 
portation of  their  members, — Captain  Jacobson 
was  in  charge. 

There  was  far  more  comfort  and  cleanliness  on 
these  vessels  of  the  Congregation  than  on  ordi- 
nary commercial  boats,  and  a  great  deal  of 
friendliness,  for  as  everybody  was  coming  to  the 
colonies  for  the  same  purpose  and  all  were  Mo- 
ravians, even  the  sailors,  there  was  a  strong  bond 
formed  at  once.  Services  were  held  on  deck,  the 
congregation  seated  on  benches,  and  love  feasts 
conducted,  just  as  on  shore,  and  a  regular  system 
of  living  was  maintained.  These  companies  were 
known  as  "sea  congregations." 

The  brethren  slung  their  hammocks  on  the 
lower  deck  for  sleeping  quarters  and  the  sisters 
were  given  the  staterooms. 

The  von  Marschall  girls  probably  shared  their 
mother's  stateroom  and  as  everybody  carried 
many  personal  belongings  and  conveniences  in 
those  days,  they  probably  made  their  temporary 
home  very  attractive  for  those  long  weeks  on  the 
ocean. 


78      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

When  Maria  Theresa,  the  elder  daughter  was 
twenty  years  of  age  she  married  Hans  Christian 
von  Schweinitz,  the  first  of  that  family  to  come 
to  America,  living  in  Bethlehem ;  and  after  five 
years  the  poor  little  wife  was  carried  up  the  hill 
to  the  graveyard.  Her  parents  and  sister,  Anna, 
left  for  Europe  the  same  year,  and  remained  four 
years.  Upon  their  return  Anna  became  the 
warden  of  the  Single  Sisters  in  Bethlehem,  and 
served  with  great  ability  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected of  the  daughter  of  her  father.  She  had  a 
very  sweet  voice,  played  beautifully  on  the  guitar 
and  was  a  most  accomplished  musician.  Her  tal- 
ents were  in  great  demand,  and  added  greatly  to 
the  pleasures  of  that  day.  For  many  years  she 
administered  the  affairs  of  the  sisterhood;  and 
then,  one  day,  she  laid  down  her  burden  and  went 
to  join  her  sister  in  their  eternal  home. 

When  the  von  Marschalls  returned  they 
brought  with  them  Anna  Dorothea,  Baroness  von 
Watteville,  who  came  to  be  the  bride  of  their 
widowed  son-in-law.  Dorothea  was  the  oldest 
daughter  of  Benigna  von  Zinzendorf  and  Baron 
Johannes  von  Watteville,  and  the  oldest  grand- 
child of  Count  Zinzendorf.  She  was  fourteen 
years  younger  than  von  Schweinitz,  handsome, 
and  life  offered  many  charming  inducements  in 
the  aristocratic  old  world ;  and  yet  she  accepted 
the  offer  of  marriage  made  by  a  man  whom  she 
had  never  seen,  crossed  the  ocean  amidst  the  dan- 


Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century  79 

gers  of  war,  became  his  wife,  settled  down  in  the 
half-wild  environment  at  Bethlehem,  and  lived 
happily  ever  after.  All  of  which  goes  to  show 
that  she  was  a  very  remarkable  woman. 

Sister  Dorothea,  however,  very  wisely  brought 
with  her  some  of  the  luxuries  of  the  old  life,  in 
the  shape  of  silver  and  fine  linens,  articles  which 
were  highly  valued  family  pieces.  In  particular, 
there  was  an  adorable  silver  tea  pot,  which  had 
belonged  to  her  mother,  the  Countess  Benigna, 
and  was  cherished  for  that  reason. 

Her  descendants  cherish  it  for  the  same  reason. 
The  ancient  little  tea  pot,  after  crossing  the 
ocean  several  times,  has  settled  down  just  across 
the  street  from  its  first  home  in  the  Gemein  Hans 
in  the  possession  of  the  fourth  generation,  the 
head  of  which  claims  that  the  magic  of  the  brew 
is  potent  as  of  old. 

One  of  the  most  charming  disclosures  of  Mo- 
ravian life  of  this  time  is  given  in  the  correspon- 
dence of  Sister  Mary  Penry,  familiarly  known  as 
^Tolly." 

She  was  a  Welsh  woman  by  birth,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  very  early  youth  and  settled  in 
Philadelphia  with  her  aunt.  While  there  she 
met  Brother  Valentine  Haidt  from  Bethlehem 
and  was  very  much  influenced  by  his  exposition 
of  Moravian  doctrines  and  description  of  the 
sweet  sisterhood  in  Bethlehem.  She  accom- 
panied him  to  Bethlehem  in  1756,  joined  the 


80      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

church,  and  was  an  inmate  of  the  Sisters'  House 
there  until  17 62  when  she  was  removed  to  Lititz 
and  entered  the  Sisters'  House  there,  under  Sis- 
ter Tippett,  the  Deaconess.  It  is  recorded  that 
"here,  secure  in  God's  love  and  the  affection  of 
her  Choir  and  Congregation  she  served  on  the 
staff  of  her  Pflegerin  faithfully  to  the  close  of  her 
life  as  the  Schreiber  (diarist,  copyist  and  secre- 
tary). She  was  also  the  visitor's  guide  making 
in  that  capacity  many  friends."  Sister  Peggy 
Krieger  was  the  steward  of  the  house  and  as  such 
the  overseer  of  Polly's  work.  Polly  calls  her 
"friend  and  sister"  also. 

Her  personal  appearance  is  described  by  her- 
self in  one  of  her  letters  to  her  relatives  in  Wales. 
She  says — "When  I  was  young  I  had  a  delicate 
skin  and  very  fine  hair.  This  I  can  now  say  with- 
out vanity.  And  even  to  this  day  my  relations  in 
Philadelphia  often  wish  they  had  my  hair.  I  am 
rather  under  the  common  size  in  stature,  and  ever 
since  I  was  forty  years  of  age  am  grown  fat  and 
have  lost  my  gentility." 

("So  slenderness  was  envied  then^  too!") 
"I  have  most  excellent  eyes  for  use — ^but  not 
for  beauty — dark  grey — ^am  near-sighted  yet  not 
so  much  as  to  hold  my  work  close  to  my  nose.  I 
am  always  taken  to  be  younger  than  I  really  am ; 
as  I  am  plump  the  wrinkles  are  not  so  visible  as 
they  would  be  were  I  lean  and  haggard." 


Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century  81 

In  another  letter  she  writes  of  their  garden : 

"April  29, 1814. 

"We  have  great  quantities  of  peaches — good 
apples  and  cherries — spears  not  so  plenty — apri- 
cotts,  fine  plumbs  and  collyflowers  grow  not  in 
common  gardens,  currants,  raspberries  and 
strawberries  plenty — ^gooseberries  not  very  plen- 
ty, cranberries  grow  wild.  We  have  fine  water  and 
musk  melons,  where  the  soil  is  sandy.  Vegeta- 
bles of  all  kinds  we  have  in  our  gardens.  Hazle- 
nuts  which  grow  on  shrubs  we  have  enough — but 
I  never  saw  any  Filberts — black  walnuts  are 
plenty,  white,  or  the  so-called  English  walnut  is 
scarce.'' 

Again  she  discusses  the  war  prices  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life  and  while  the  letter  was  dated  1797 
it  might  just  as  well  have  been  1918,  for  it  has  a 
most  familiar  sound. 

"Such  quantities  of  flour  is  exported,  that 
wheat  bears  the  price  of  three  crowns  sterling. 
Beef  from  four  to  six  pence  a  pound  with  us — in 
the  city  at  least  three  times  as  much;  when  I 
was  in  Philadelphia  last  fall  butter  was  frequent- 
ly sold  at  the  rate  of  2/6  the  pound,  and  veal 
three  dollars  the  loin,  and  fire  wood  at  the  enor- 
mous price  of  twelve  dollars  at  the  wharf,  besides 
one  dollar  trailing  to  the  dwelling  and  one  dollar 
cutting  and  piling  in  the  cellar." 

And  of  servants  wages :  "For  my  part  I  wonder 
how  people  can  live  in  such  cities,  for  maids' 


82     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

wages  is  sis  shillings  the  week,  and  every  fash- 
ionable extravagance  has  found  its  way  into  our 
cities,  that  is  common  in  Europe.  Yet  it  is  none 
of  my  business  how  they  come  on — I  am  thankful 
for  my  blessed  asylum." 

She  writes  "your  old  niece  works  tambour  and 
embroidery,  and  as  yet  never  used  spectacles." 

Those  wiseacres  who  tell  us  our  seasons  are 
changing  that  the  weather  is  not  what  it  used  to 
be,  etc.,  should  read  one  of  Sister  Polly's  letters 
in  which  she  says : 

"Monday,  April  15th. 

"The  climate  in  Pennsylvania  is  variable,  we 
have  frequently  in  one  week — nay  in  one  day — 
such  sudden  changes  from  heat  to  cold  happens 
— that  you  would  imagnie  you  went  from  Green- 
land to  the  West  Indies — or  from  thence  to 
Greenland,  these  changes  often  cause  colds,  fevers 
and  many  disorders,  especially  if  a  person  is  not 
careful  of  changing  their  warm  clothing  for  cool, 
the  best  way  is,  suit  your  dress  just  to  the  season 
of  the  week  or  day." 

Evidently  Sister  Polly  was  very  susceptible  to 
our  climatic  changes,  for  her  last  illness  was 
bronchitis;  she  died  in  May  of  1804  and  sleeps 
her  last  sleep  right  by  the  main  path  in  the  grave- 
yard at  Lititz,  under  the  great  trees  that  guard 
the  slumbers  of  maid  and  matron,  boy  and  man, 
who,  collectively,  built  up  the  village  of  Lititz. 

There  was  constant  communication  between 


Introducing  the  Nineteenth  Century  83 

the  Moravian  settlements.  Lititz  and  Bethlehem 
are  seventy-five  miles  apart  as  the  crow  flies,  and 
much  farther  by  the  highways  of  that  day ;  but 
by  stage  coach,  wagon  and  horse  back  there  was 
frequent  travel  to  and  fro. 

Pastors  resident  in  one  village  would  have 
their  children  at  one  of  the  boarding  schools  in 
another.  This  was  the  case  with  Brother  and 
Sister  Abraham  Reinke,  stationed  at  Lititz  and 
Lancaster.  Their  little  daughter  Joanna  was  a 
pupil  at  the  girls'  school  in  Bethlehem,  estab- 
lished by  the  Countess  Benigna  von  Zinzendorf 
in  Germantown,  later  moved  to  the  Bell  House 
adjoining  the  Sisters'  House  and  known  as  the 
Girls'  Boarding  School  for  many  years. 

There  was  a  beautiful  flower  garden  in  the 
rear,  containing  a  summer  house,  and  here  one 
June  day,  Joanna  Eeinke  and  a  friend  were  griev- 
ing over  the  death  of  their  canary. 

They  had  placed  the  tiny  bird  in  a  box,  dug  a 
grave,  and  had  the  little  coffin  resting  over  it, 
when  they  spied  Bishop  Loskiel  coming  up  the 
hill.  Eagerly  they  ran  towards  him,  not  a  bit 
awed  by  the  dignity  of  his  episcopacy ;  they  were 
only  two  little  girls  sure  of  a  welcome  from  the 
pastor  they  loved.  And,  slipping  their  hands 
into  his,  they  told  him  "He  had  come  just  in  time 
to  conduct  the  funeral  of  their  pet  bird !" 

The  good  bishop  went  along,  and  standing  by 
the  diminutive  grave,  with  an  arm  around  each 


84      A  Century  of  Mora^dan  Sisters 

child,  he  lifted  up  his  face  to  the  blue  sky  and  of- 
fered up  a  prayer ;  not,  as  the  little  ones  thought, 
for  their  dead  bird,  but  for  the  preservation  of  the 
beautiful  innocence  of  their  childhood. 

Many  years  later,  when  Joanna  was  married 
and  living  in  Lititz,  she  loved  to  recall  this  inci- 
dent, with  its  depth  of  meaning,  and  told  the 
story  to  her  own  children,  one  of  whom,  now  an 
octogenarian,  told  it  to  me.  And  the  prayer  of 
good  Bishop  Loskiel  was  certainly  granted;  for 
Sister  Joanna  Beck  was  honored  through  a  long 
life  for  her  beautiful  character. 

Honored  beyond  measure  has  been  her  famous 
son;  and  the  same  simplicity  which  placed  the 
hand  of  the  little  Joanna  so  trustfully  in  the  hand 
that  wore  the  bishop's  seal,  dwells  in  the  heart  of 
the  schoolmaster  of  Lititz. 

Sister  Mary  Tippet  was  a  well  loved  Deaconess 
of  the  Sisters  in  Lititz.  She  was  born  in  Car- 
roll's Manor,  Md.,  and  her  father  took  her  in  his 
arms  and  promised  her  to  the  Saviour  as  His 
everlasting  property,  to  which  dedication  of  the 
new  little  daughter,  the  mother  agreed. 

The  family  became  acquainted  with  the  Mora- 
vian Brethren  as  they  stopped  on  their  way  to 
and  from  North  Carolina  and  visited  at  a  neigh- 
bor's house.  At  this  house  they  heard  Brother 
Spangenberg  preach,  and  also  Brother  Powell, 
and  later,  when  Brother  and  Sister  Seidel  visited 


Introducing  the  Mneteenth  Century  85 

there  Mary  spoke  of  her  earnest  wish  to  enter  the 
Sisters'  House  at  Lititz. 

*  They  advised  her  first  to  visit  Lititz,  and  get 
an  idea  of  the  church  life.  This  she  did;  but 
she  was  not  allowed  to  stay  in  the  Sisters'  House, 
and  a  place  was  found  for  her  in  one  of  the  fami- 
lies. Later  she  received  permission  to  enter  the 
congregation,  and  the  choir  house  where  she  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  older  girls. 

One  promotion  followed  another  until  the  posi- 
tion of  Deaconess  came  to  her,  a  position  which 
she  faithfully  lived  up  to  for  her  lifetime. 

She  was  a  tall,  thin  woman  of  a  quick  and  de- 
cided manner,  and  an  able  administrator.  As 
such,  she  attracted  the  attention  of  the  authori- 
ties at  Bethlehem,  and  in  1798  she  received  a  call 
to  act  as  Deaconess  in  the  Sisters'  House  in  Beth- 
lehem, which  she  accepted. 

Sister  Tippet  remained  there  for  eleven  years, 
but  in  1809  returned  to  Lititz  to  round  out  a  long 
life  in  the  old  place.  She  was  a  born  teacher 
saying  "the  training  of  young  people  was  always, 
notwithstanding  its  difficulties,  a  pleasure  to 
me,"  which  speech  was  prophetic  of  the  opinion 
of  the  long  line  of  Moravian  women  who  have  fol- 
lowed her  as  teachers. 

Sister  Tippet  found  Bethlehem  a  larger  com- 
munity than  her  beloved  Lititz. 

It  was  still  an  exclusive  settlement,  but,  owing 
to  the  spirit  of  the  times  the  thought  of  the  place 


86      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

was  changed.  Levering  says  that  with  the  de- 
parture of  the  Eighteenth  Century  "the  old  heroic 
life  was  gone  forever." 

It  was.  But  an  idyllic  life  took  its  place.  The 
quiet  and  retirement  of  the  village  produced  a 
peace  and  harmony  that  were  charming.  The 
fidelity  with  which  the  people  cherished  their 
high  ideals,  their  great  love  of  music,  and  its  con- 
stant use,  the  appreciation  of  art  and  the  high 
educational  value  of  their  schools,  gave  an  at- 
mosphere quite  unapproachable  by  anything  this 
side  of  the  Golden  Age.  Like  the  ancients,  they 
too  cultivated  the  soil  even  to  the  planting  of 
vineyards,  the  harvest  time  was  one  of  rejoicing: 
they  brought  their  music  to  the  fields  to  praise 
the  bounty  of  the  Lord,  and  then  later  held  a 
harvest  festival  in  front  of  the  Bell  House  with 
the  musicians  standing  on  the  balcony  and  lead- 
ing in  song. 

The  village  that  fifty  years  before  was  only  a 
cluster  of  houses  in  a  clearing  of  the  forest,  now 
lay  spread  out  upon  its  hill  in  the  midst  of  fine 
farms  and  blooming  orchards.  The  stately  stone 
/  houses  on  Church  Street,  which  for  so  long  con- 
stituted the  entire  settlement,  fronted  the  south 
and  looked  over  the  river  to  the  mountains  be- 
yond. New  houses  had  now  been  built.  Main 
Street  branched  off  from  Church  Street  at  the 
old  Platz,  or  square  in  front  of  the  Brethren's 
House.    Along  Main  Street  were  the  various  in- 


The  Grosser  Saal  or  Sisters'  Chapel  (second  floor) 


Introducing  the  Mneteenth  Century  87 


dustries,  many  in  the  Brethrens'  House  itself, 
others  in  little  log  houses  of  their  own. 

The  pharmacy  which  acquired  such  fame  dur- 
ing the  Revolution,  was  (and  is)  next  to  the  new 
church,  with  Dr,  Otto  in  charge.  The  old  stone 
^^Family  House"  where  the  little  children  lived 
stood  next  to  it.  A  few  more  low,  high  gabled 
houses  of  drab  or  gray  plaster,  and  then  came 
an  open  market  shed,  but  under  roof,  such  as  are 
still  found  in  some  places  in  the  South.  This 
shed  was  on  a  road  now  called  Market  Street  in 
honor  of  the  old  market ;  then  it  was  called  Cow 
Lane  because  the  cows  were  driven  out  that  way 
to  their  pasture ;  a  few  houses  had  been  built  up 
that  way.  At  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Cow 
Lane  was  a  gray  plaster  house  with  a  high  stoop, 
with  a  few  neighboring  houses  of  the  same  type 
and  beyond  was  the  tavern,  "Ye  Olde  Sun  Inn," 
at  which  the  stage  coach  from  Philadelphia  drove 
up  every  afternoon  in  great  state,  with  old  John 
Feuerabend,  the  driver,  on  the  box,  beaming  with 
friendliness  and  shouting  Pennsylvania  Dutch 
greetings  to  his  friends. 

The  arrival  of  the  coach  was  the  event  of  the 
day,  then,  and  for  years  later.  A  passenger  who 
came  in  on  one  of  the  last  trips  it  made  was  much 
impressed  by  the  number  of  pretty  Moravian 
Sisters"  she  saw  standing  at  their  windows  or  on 
their  porches,  to  watch  the  arrival  of  the  coach. 
One  in  particular,  whom  she  afterward  found  to 


88      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

be  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Schropp,  she 
thought  was  a  very  beautiful  girl.  This  young 
sister  was  very  lovely,  and  in  another  community 
would  have  been  a  reigning  belle,  but  such  things 
were  not  permitted  in  Bethlehem. 

Directly  across  from  the  Brethrens'  House  at 
the  other  end  of  Main  Street  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Platz  or  square,  was  a  log  cabin  that  housed 
the  spinning  wheel  industry,  and  many  wheels 
were  turned  out.  Just  beyond,  was  the  old  pot- 
tery where  tile  stoves,  amongst  other  things,  were 
made.  The  blacksmith  shop  and  the  battery  fol- 
lowed in  line,  up  to  the  first  house  which  stood 
until  1823,  when  it  was  torn  down.  Back  of  the 
first  house,  down  by  the  creek,  was  the  old  grist 
mill.  In  fact  this  old  hillside,  at  the  foot  of 
which  David  Nitschman  had  found  the  never- 
failing  spring,  was  the  manufacturing  part  of 
Bethlehem.  The  first  water  works  in  the  coun- 
try was  erected  at  its  base,  and  near  by  was  the 
old  tannery  which  did  a  most  lucrative  business. 

Spanning  the  Monocacy  right  by  the  tannery 
was  an  old  log  bridge,  and  the  "Ohio  Eoad"  led 
across  it,  and  up  the  hill,  by  the  butcher  shop  and 
fulling  mill,  and  the  little  old  Indian  house, 
straight  into  the  West. 

That  road  over  which  so  many  people  travelled 
to  fame,  or  failure,  or  even  death, — that  road  for 
iwhich  the  inspired  David  Zeisberger  must  have 


Introducing  the  Mneteenth  Century  89 

blazed  the  trail,  axe  across  Ms  shoulder  and 
prayer  upon  his  lips. 

The  high  roads  to  Nazareth  and  Easton  lay  to 
the  northeast  of  Bethlehem  branching  off  at  an 
angle  from  the  cleared  lands  into  the  woods, 
whose  shade  was  so  dense  that  snow  often  lay  in 
the  shadows  in  May  time.  When  George  Wash- 
ington and  his  escort  rode  away  from  Bethlehem 
in  the  early  morning  of  that  July  day  in  1778,  it 
was  over  this  road  he  travelled  to  Easton  with 
Bishop  Ettwein  as  his  guide. 

The  passengers  on  the  coach  approaching  the 
place  as  they  did,  from  the  south,  over  the  moun- 
tain pass,  must  have  been  charmed  with  the  view 
of  the  little  village  surrounded  by  its  orchards 
and  farms,  and  nestled  in  the  verdure  of  the  en- 
circling forest.  Lying  on  high  ground,  with  the 
clear,  pure  river  in  the  valley,  the  place  domi- 
nated the  entire  landscape. 

The  belfry  of  the  church  etched  sharply  against 
the  sky,  caught  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun, 
and  the  last  rays  of  the  evening  sun  holding  the 
afterglow  on  its  white  pillars  as  long  as  there 
w^as  color  in  the  sky. 

And  to  the  inquisitive  traveller  who  later  left 
the  roaring  fire  in  the  great  hearth  of  the  tavern 
and  walked  abroad  in  the  darkness,  it  seemed 
that  night  itself  could  not  obscure  the  dominance 
of  that  gray  and  ghostly  steeple. 

The  building  of  this  church  was  the  great  ef- 


90      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


fort  of  the  Brethren  in  the  first  years  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century.  Planned  for  in  1802,  the  real 
work  of  excavation  was  begun  in  1803  by  men  and 
boys.  Their  labor  was  gratuitous,  and  they  com- 
pleted the  huge  undertaking  in  two  weeks  I  Not 
to  be  behind  the  men  in  service,  the  sisters  fur- 
nished the  morning  "piece"  and  afternoon  "ves- 
per" to  the  workers  and  in  this  way  did  their  bit 
for  the  undertaking. 

In  1806  the  finished  building  was  consecrated 
and  immediately  became  famous  as  the  largest 
building  in  the  state,  and  for  having  the  finest 
music  in  the  country. 

Soon  after  the  consecration,  there  retired  to 
Bethlehem  to  live,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
missionary  couples  of  the  time.  Brother  and 
Sister  Heckewelder.  For  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  John  Heckewelder  was  the  most  promi- 
nent resident  of  Bethlehem;  his  literary  work 
had  given  him  high  rank  among  the  historians  of 
the  day,  and  many  distinguished  men  called  upon 
him  in  his  retirement. 

The  Heckewelders  had  been  married  in  the 
chapel  of  their  Indian  missionary  station  in  Ohio, 
and  Sister  Heckewelder  had  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  white  bride  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  this  be- 
ing the  first  ceremony.  The  daughter,  as  well  as 
the  wife  of  a  missionary,  she  was  a  most  ener- 
getic helpmate,  and  for  thirty  years  stood  by  his 
side,  staunch  and  true.    Then  her  health  failed 


Introducing  the  Mneteenth  Century  91 

and  they  were  compelled  to  retire,  coming  to 
Bethlehem. 

Brother  Hecke welder  bought  his  own  home, 
the  low  plaster  house  on  Cedar  Street,  and  for 
five  years  more  his  wife  was  spared  to  him. 

Sister  Heckewelder  was  a  great  lover  of  flowers 
and  had  a  beautiful  garden  back  of  their  house, 
with  all  sorts  of  old  fashioned  posies  growing  in 
it,  and  many  of  the  lovely,  native  wild  flowers. 
A  succeeding  tenant  of  the  house  found  a  large 
patch  of  May  apples  growing  under  an  ancient 
apple  tree;  and  up  in  the  eastern  corner  of  the 
garden  the  stately  arum  grew  in  the  sunshine; 
both  of  these  were  said  to  be  survivals  of  the 
Heckewelder  garden. 

There  were  very  fine  English  strawberries, 
w^hite  raspberries  and  gooseberries,  with  red, 
white  and  black  currants;  quite  a  variety  of 
choice  fruits. 

There  was  a  beautiful  white  rose  of  the  climb- 
ing variety,  which  covered  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  rear  of  the  house ;  in  the  borders  were  many 
fragrant  blooming  plants,  tuber  rose  and  mignon- 
ette; the  strawberry  shrub  was  a  delight  in  the 
spring  when  the  dainty  bluebells  carpeted  the 
ground. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  fioral  display  there 
stood  a  summer  house,  where  husband  and  wife 
loved  to  sit,  he  with  his  pipe,  and  she  with  her 
knitting;   and  here  their  friends  would  often 


92      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

join  them  to  listen  to  their  reminiscences. 
"Daddy"  Heckewelder  told  a  good  story,  and  in 
lighter  mood  loved  to  spin  yarns  about  his  west- 
em  life,  his  ^'brown  brethren"  and  the  primitive 
Moravian  days ;  and  in  quiet  moments,  to  tell,  in 
hushed  tones  of  the  dreadful  massacre. 

One  who  shared  this  awful  memory  with  the 
Heckewelders  was  Susanna  Zeisberger,  widow  of 
the  intrepid  David  Zeisberger,  who  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  at  Goshen,  Ohio,  in  1808, 
had  come  to  Bethlehem  to  end  her  days  in  the 
Widows'  House. 

Here,  in  this  idyllic  arbor  set  in  the  midst  of 
flowers  and  fruits,  with  the  singing  of  birds  and 
the  laughter  of  school  children  around  them, 
these  three  sturdy  pioneers  spent  the  evening  of 
their  days  talking  tranquilly  of  the  thrilling  life 
among  the  Indians,  and  of  him  who  lay  under  the 
sod  at  Goshen. 


V 

Birthdays 


H 

'  III  J  j-j 

—M 

— "-z? — ■ 

185,  A. 


m 


I    I   '    '   I   '  ' 

With  Thy  presence,  Lord,  our  Head  and  Saviour, 
Bless  us  all,  we  humbly  pray; 


Y 

Birthdays 

IT  was,  and  still  is  a  favorite  custom  among 
the  Moravians  to  observe  the  anniversaries 
of  birthdays.  In  the  old  days  a  birthday 
was  an  event  planned  for  many  weeks  in  advance, 
and  in  later  years,  when  the  town  had  outgrown 
its  likeness  to  a  big  family,  the  anniversary  was 
never  forgotten  because  of  the  custom  of  reading 
the  birthday  book  at  the  breakfast  table,  when 
the  daily  text  was  read.  This  book  was  in  al- 
most every  family,  and  contained  the  names  of  all 
relatives  and  friends,  and  the  year  of  their  birth, 
and  it  brought  many  a  greeting  that  otherwise 
might  have  been  overlooked,  to  the  "Birthday 
Child,'^  as  he  or  she  was  always  called,  no  matter 
what  the  age. 

The  daily  text  book  which  is  read  aloud  at  the 
breakfast  table  every  morning  by  the  head  of  the 
family,  is  a  selection  of  Scriptural  texts  and 
hymns  as  a  guide  for  the  day.  Immediately  after 
reading  this,  the  birthday  book  was  opened  at 
that  date,  and  the  names  of  those  who  celebrated 
their  natal  day  upon  that  date,  read  aloud. 

These  books,  going  from  father  to  son  as  they 
did,  form  a  valuable  genealogical  record.  They 

95 


96      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

were  about  seven  by  nine  printed  in  German  type 
on  handmade  paper,  and  well  bound.  A  book 
marker,  to  keep  the  date,  cross-stitched  on  card- 
board by  one  of  the  children  of  the  family,  or 
daintly  hand  painted  by  more  expert  fingers  was 
always  in  the  book. 

When  the  name  of  a  dear  friend  was  read,  and 
the  family  were  musical,  with  good  Toices,  the 
Bahnson  family  for  instance,  the  birthday  hymn 
would  be  sung  for  him  or  her,  right  at  the  family 
table,  although  the  birthday  child  might  be  miles 
away.  Xot  only  was  the  effect  very  sweet,  at  the 
time — it  certainly  was  lovely  for  the  celebrant  to 
know  that  friends  were  giving  their  first  thought 
of  the  day  to  her,  and  calling  down  a  blessing 
upon  her  head  in  choral  unison. 

Beginning  with  the  actual  birth  of  a  little 
child,  and  going  on  through  their  infancy,  child- 
hood, youth  and  up  to  a  revered  old  age,  the  day 
was  never  forgotten.  The  talent  for  versification 
stood  them  in  good  stead  on  these  occasions,  and 
original  verses  tender  or  humorous  gave  a  per- 
sonal touch  to  many  of  the  small  giffs. 

The  following  verses  were  received  by  a  proud 
father  upon  the  birth  of  his  first  child,  and  w^ere 
written  by  his  dearest  friend,  who  was  as  happy 
at  the  coming  of  the  baby  as  were  the  parents : 


Birflidays 


97 


To  Annie  Wilbue  Lehman 

Another  little  wave 

Upon  the  sea  of  Life; 
Another  soul  to  save 

Amid  its  toil  and  strife. 


Two  more  little  feet 

To  walk  the  dusty  road 

To  choose  where  two  paths  meet 
The  narrow,  or  the  broad. 

Two  more  little  hands 
To  work  for  good  or  ill ; 

Two  more  little  eyes 
Another  little  will. 


Another  heart  to  love 

Receiving  love  again ; 
And  so  the  baby  came, 

A  thing  of  joy  and  pain. 

A.  S.  S. 


A  birthday  celebration  was  a  big  event  in  the 
annals  of  this  quiet  neighborhood. 

The  "birthday  child"  was  awakened  by  the 
singing  of  a  birthday  hymn  outside  the  door  of 
her  sleeping  room.  A  small  table  was  spread 
with  a  white  cloth  and  on  this  were  arranged  a 
vase  of  flowers  and  the  simple  gifts.  The  gifts 
were  frequently  beautifully  inscribed  texts  of 
Scripture  done  by  the  sisters  so  exquisitely  that 
they  could  easily  be  ranked  with  the  illumina- 


98      A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

tions  of  the  middle  ages,  and  the  verse  sur- 
rounded with  sprays  of  flowers,  or  a  floral 
wreath ;  book  markers  were  also  painted  or  cross- 
stitched  and  other  very  ordinary  but  useful 
things  given.  Children  would  copy  hymns  for 
their  parents  or  draw  and  embroider  as  best  they 
could  some  trifle  that  would  serve  to  carry  their 
assertions  of  love  and  congratulations  to  their 
parent  and  to  show  their  progress  in  the  arts. 

In  the  afternoon  there  was  some  form  of  social 
gathering.  Private  love  feasts  were  the  first  of 
these,  and  they  were  for  many  years  the  most 
popular  way  of  celebrating  the  day,  even  the 
schools  making  use  of  them.  Then  the  vesper 
crept  in,  but  the  birthday  hymn  was  always  sung, 
so  the  touch  of  spiritual  fervor  was  still  there. 
The  birthday  cake  with  its  lighted  candles  was 
never  forgotten. 

Even  the  schools  observed  the  birthday  of  the 
different  pupils,  each  room  company  singing  the 
hymn  for  the  "child''  and  in  the  boarding  schools, 
love  feasts  were  given. 

When  one  of  the  ministers  celebrated  his  birth- 
day, the  pupils  of  the  schools  would  go  to  offer 
their  congratulations,  sing  and  "speak  a  dia- 
logue" written  for  the  occasion. 

In  summer  birthdays  were  frequently  cele- 
brated upon  the  old  island,  up  the  river,  that  de- 
lightful retreat  whose  magnificent  trees  no  longer 
are  mirrored  in  the  lovely  waters,  but  help  to 


Birthdays 


99 


make  solid  the  road  bed  of  an  adjacent  railroad. 
And  the  island  itself  is  dug  up  by  a  steam  shovel 
to  fill  in  ground  for  the  railroads. 

Think  of  the  charm  of  a  gathering  in  a  sylvan 
retreat  like  Calypso  Island  was  before  the  rail- 
roads came,  the  mountains,  the  river,  the  islands 
as  clean  and  fragrant  with  bloom  as  on  the  day  of 
creation.  The  Indian  canoe,  swift  and  graceful, 
alone  broke  the  quiet  of  the  water. 

For  many  years  the  canoe  was  the  only  way  of 
reaching  the  islands  and  certain  of  the  men  be- 
came expert  in  the  use  of  the  paddle,  and  trans- 
ported the  people  to  the  island  on  gala  days,  of 
which  the  birthday  was  the  leading  one. 

A  love  feast  always  preceded  the  celebration 
itself,  the  coffee  for  which  was  made  on  the  spot 
in  big  kettles  over  a  camp  fire.  A  crystal  clear 
spring  furnished  an  endless  supply  of  water,  the 
river  supplied  good  fish  to  be  broiled  over  the 
fire,  and  finally  the  party  sat  down  to  rustic 
tables  in  the  green  shade  of  the  spreading  trees, 
to  a  feast  of  good  things  in  a  picnic  grove  of  ideal 
surroundings. 

In  winter  perforce  the  home  was  the  meeting 
place  but  the  same  loving  friends  brought  their 
greetings  and  sang  their  hymns. 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1789,  the  pupils  of  the  girls'  school  sang, 
at  breakfast,  a  birthday  verse  for  President 
Washington. 


100    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


"The  President  thou  hast  ordained 
Support  by  thine  almighty  hand : 
To  all  his  undertakings  give  success ; 
The  land  o'er  which  he  rules  protect  and  bless." 

Each  of  the  little  girls  had  a  great  friend  among 
the  sisters  in  the  Sisters'  House  whom  they  called 
mamma,  and  on  that  twenty-second  of  February, 
they  went  to  drink  coffee,  at  vesper  with  "their 
mammas."  In  the  evening  they  "spoke"  dia- 
logues and  so  the  President's  birthday  was  hon- 
ored in  Bethlehem. 

Sister  Polly  Penry,  in  the  Sisters'  House  at 
Lititz,  celebrated  not  only  her  own  birthday,  but 
those  of  her  Welsh  uncles  and  cousins,  and  wrote 
to  them  describing  the  event,  saying  "on  your 
birthday  I  had  some  of  my  intimates  to  a  dish  of 
coffee  and  tea,  and  beloved  Sister  Mary  Tippet, 
who  is  our  spiritual  directress  was,  you  may  de- 
pend, the  head  of  the  company.  We  spoke  much 
about  you,  and  wished  you  many  blessings  to 
your  natal  day,  and  she  wishes  and  prays,  that 
you  may  increase  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
Eim — as  well  as  the  knowledge  of  your  own  utter 
inability  to  think  even  a  good  thought,  without 
His  assistance." 

This  letter  also  carried  a  gift;  her  initials, 
beautifully  entwined,  written  by  one  of  the  sis- 
ters, an  intimate  friend. 

On  another  occasion,  this  time  her  own  birth- 


Birthdays 


101 


day,  she  has  her  friends  in  for  a  dish  of  tea  at 
yesper  and  letters  from  Wales  have  just  arrived 
for  her.  So  after  the  singing  of  the  birthday 
hymn,  and  prayer,  the  letters  were  enjoyed  by  all, 
as  the  Welsh  family  had  come  to  be  known  inti- 
mately by  name,  in  the  little  coterie,  and  before 
breaking  up,  the  party  offered  prayers  for  the 
well-being  of  those  people  across  the  seas.  The 
sisters  also  discussed  the  food  prices  which  had 
become  so  exorbitant  on  account  of  the  European 
War,  and  of  wheat,  in  particular,  which  had  gone 
up  to  two  crowns  on  account  of  depredations 
upon  the  merchant  marine  on  the  high  seas! 
They  discussed  various  clergymen  in  Philadel- 
phia, where  Polly  visited  a  cousin,  and  where  she 
had  been  taken  to  a  church  for  the  ^^blacks,''  it  is 
called  the  "African  Church,''  and  over  the  gates 
is  engraved  "The  people  that  sat  in  darkness, 
have  seen  a  great  light."  Great  interest  was  also 
displayed  in  the  government  and  the  admirable 
presidency  of  George  Washington,  for  whose  po- 
litical future  however,  they  had  fears.  In  short, 
these  quiet,  simple  women,  could  have  passed  a 
first  class  examination  in  current  events,  and 
doubtless  first  aid,  too,  of  the  common  sense  va- 
riety in  use  at  that  time,  before  germs  were  ever 
discovered. 

These  pleasant  gatherings  took  place  in  Sister 
Polly's  own  room  in  the  Sisters'  House,  now  the 
Senior  room  of  Linden  Hall  Seminary,  for  the 


102    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Lititz  congregation  has  given  up  its  Sisters' 
House  and  the  School  has  taken  it  over  contin- 
uing the  work  of  educating  young  ladies  in  the 
higher  things  of  life. 

The  sister  who  made  the  initials  for  Polly  to 
send  home,  was  Anna  Kosina  Xhist,  a  teacher  in 
the  girls'  school  at  Bethlehem,  and  the  one  who 
was  so  gifted  in  the  writing  of  verses  and  hymns 
for  all  occasions. 

In  the  Sisters'  House  at  Bethlehem,  there  lived 
at  this  time,  twin  sisters,  Anna  and  Mary  Wern- 
er, whose  life  together  was  rather  wonderful. 
Born  of  humble  and  poor  parents,  they  were 
quite  uneducated,  but  trained  to  work.  At  an 
early  age  these  girls  found  a  home  in  the  Sisters' 
House,  where,  as  they  were  industrious,  they  were 
employed  in  washing  and  similar  work.  They 
were  very  religious  girls,  and  their  amiable  and 
cheerful  dispositions  secured  for  them  the  respect 
and  friendship  of  their  associates.  Their  great 
attachment  for  each  other  was  their  strongest 
characteristic.  They  toiled  side  by  side  and 
rested  together.  Even  in  sickness  they  were  not 
separated,  for  such  was  the  strong  sympathy  be- 
tween them  that  if  one  became  ill,  the  other  soon 
contracted  the  complaint.  Therefore  a  proposal 
of  marriage  which  came  to  Anna  from  a  young 
mechanic  was  a  great  shock  to  them.  Anna  gave 
it  careful  consideration,  but  Mary's  great  de- 
pendency upon  her  won  the  day,  she  returned  a 


Birthdays 


103 


negative  to  the  young  man,  and  the  loving  pair 
pledged  themselves  never  to  separate  in  life. 
This  was  when  they  were  twenty  years  of  age. 

The  peaceful,  busy  years  sped  on,  until  their 
fiftieth  birthday  or  "jubilee"  approached.  They 
planned  for  an  anniversary  love  feast  for  the  en- 
tire sisterhood  to  celebrate  the  great  day,  which 
came  in  the  month  of  Eoses.  The  entire  sister- 
hood was  filled  with  excitement,  for  you  may  be 
sure  that  the  twin  sisters  were  not  the  only  ones 
planning  something  for  the  great  day.  Even  the 
routine  of  the  day  before  had  to  be  changed  a  bit 
to  allow  of  preparations,  and  Anna  and  Mary 
were  hurried  off  to  give  the  loving  conspirators 
time  to  carry  out  their  plans. 

And  very  early  in  the  morning  a  number  of 
them,  quietly  slipped  out  of  bed  dressed,  and  went 
down  stairs,  and  by  and  by  sweet  music  stole  into 
the  dormitories,  accompanied  by  guitar,  clarionet 
and  violin.  It  was  the  birthday  serenade,  and 
the  hymn,  written  especially  for  the  twin  sisters 
has  been  preserved. 

Tune  168A. 
"Unto  Thee,  most  gracious  Saviour 

These  dear  Sisters  we  commend ! 
Look  on  them  in  grace  and  favor, 

To  their  i  rayers  and  wants  attend; 
Grant  them  both  a  tender  feeling. 
Of  Thy  love  and  gracious  dealing. 
That  their  hearts  may  truly  be 
Filled  with  fervent  love  to  Thee. 


104    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


"This  alone  can  keep  them  steady 

In  their  simple  path  of  grace. 
And  when  anything  seems  ready 

To  disturb  their  happiness. 
Lord,  in  mercy  them  deliver, 
Keep  their  feeble  souls  forever, 

From  the  world  and  sin  secure. 

And  in  |oul  and  body  pure !" 

The  happy  sisters  awakened  by  this  concord  of 
sweet  sounds,  arose,  embraced,  and  clothed  them- 
selves for  the  day  in  festival  garments  of  purest 
white,  and  joined  the  others,  who  greeted  them 
with  smiling  congratulations. 

They  were  then  conducted  to  their  room,  where 
their  birthday  table,  arranged  the  night  before, 
awaited  their  coming. 

"It  was  covered  with  a  snow  white  cloth, 
around  which  were  carefully  and  tastefully 
pinned  one  hundred  pink  roses,  emblematical  of 
their  united  ages,  and  of  their  maidenhood,  pink 
being  the  color  worn  by  the  single  sisters.  Be- 
sides these,  some  white  ones  were  scattered  upon 
the  top,  in  allusion  to  the  years  they  were  per- 
haps yet  to  live.  On  the  table  various  presents 
were  fancifully  laid,  some  of  which  were  in  en- 
velopes bearing  the  names  of  the  different  donors, 
each  containing  some  kind  lines  expressing  con- 
gratulations, friendly  wishes,  a  text  of  Scripture, 
or  perhaps  a  stanza  of  a  Moravian  hymn.  Then 
pleased  and  delighted  as  childhood's  happiest  mo- 


Birtlidays 


105 


ments  were  our  twins  as  they  examined  the  vari- 
ous birthday  offerings  bestowed  by  their  asso- 
ciates. Some  of  the  benefactions  were  money,  as 
the  sisters  were  so  poor,  while  others  were  rib- 
bons, muslins,  etc. 

And  now  these  artless  maidens  held  their  first 
and  only  levee.  It  was  attended  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  place  generally,  and  the  occasion 
proved  a  truly  festive  one.  The  whole  day  was 
one  continuous  scene  of  unalloyed  happiness  to 
the  participants. 

The  love  feast  was  held  in  the  evening  and  only 
for  the  sisterhood  with  the  exception  of  the  wife 
of  the  officiating  minister,  and  here  an  agreeable 
surprise  awaited  the  pair.  In  the  middle  of  the 
hall  were  placed  two  chairs  for  them.  Immedi- 
ately before  them,  mounted  on  a  pedestal,  was 
a  pyramid  of  paper  in  a  wooden  frame,  illumi- 
nated with  one  hundred  lighted  wax  candles — 
while  here  and  there  might  be  seen  one  not  lit 
— ^the  former  significant  of  their  united  ages,  and 
the  latter  to  denote  the  possible  years  of  their  fu- 
ture. In  the  centre  of  the  pyramid  their  names 
were  fancifully  written,  surrounded  and  united 
by  a  garland  of  beautiful  flowers.  Underneath 
this  was  some  appropriate  device,  and  a  suitable 
text  of  Scripture. 

As  the  twins  entered  to  take  their  seats,  they 
were  met  by  several  of  the  sisters,  who  escorted 
them  thither.    Meanwhile  the  music  of  all  the 


106     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

congregated  sisterhood  mingling  with  the  sounds 
of  different  instruments  greeted  their  coming. 

The  love  feast  followed,  after  which  the  festivi- 
ties of  the  day  soon  closed.  But  the  remem- 
brance of  this  birthday  celebration  remained 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  twin  single  sisters  as 
long  as  they  lived." 

This  account,  was  given  to  an  ancient  chroni- 
cler by  one  of  the  participants. 

The  sisters  lived  for  some  years,  but  in  1812  the 
Angel  of  Death  took  one  away,  Anna,  the  strong- 
er of  the  two.  Eealizing  her  end  was  near,  she 
called  upon  one  of  the  sisterhood  to  care  for  Mary 
after  she  had  gone.  This  trust  was  faithfully 
fulfilled,  but  Mary's  health  declined,  although 
slowly.  For  ten  years  more  she  was  here,  and 
then  in  1822,  they  laid  her  to  rest  in  the  same 
grave  with  her  sister. 

Their  "jubilee  celebration'^  was  a  typical  birth- 
day of  that  time.  Later  the  celebration  lost 
their  religious  feeling,  but  the  texts  and  loving 
little  hymns  were  in  constant  use  for  many  years. 

The  idea  of  using  fifty  roses  for  the  fifty  years 
was  used  in  many  ways.  One  form^  was  the  "jub- 
ilee wreath"  of  roses,  painted  in  water  color  on 
satin  or  paper  enclosing  the  Scriptural  verse; 
exactly  fifty  roses,  filled  out  with  for-get-me-nots 
and  green  leaves  to  form  a  symmetrical  w^reath, 
the  largest  roses  at  the  bottom,  and  tapering  to 
tiny  ones  at  the  top.    A  birthday  verse  was  in- 


Birthdays 


107 


scribed  in  the  center  and  the  names  of  the  donors 
were  put  in  ink  under  the  beautifully  lettered 
text. 

Many  less  elaborate  things  were  painted  for 
birthday  gifts.  Sister  Bleck  and  Sister  Zorn  did 
many  of  these  things,  and  earlier,  Sister  Benzein. 
Their  work  was  equisitely  dainty,  some  of  the  lit- 
tle medallions  on  bookmarks,  etc.,  being  so  tiny 
yet  carefully  worked,  they  bear  the  closest  in- 
spection to-day. 

Charming  little  silk  pincushions  in  the  shape 
of  flowers  were  very  popular.  They  were  flat, 
and  painted  in  natural  colors,  front  and  back, 
sewed  together  with  very  narrow  ribbon,  (like 
baby  ribbon)  and  stuffed  with  cotton.  Pansies 
and  ivy  leaves  made  very  pretty  ones,  moss  roses 
were  lovely,  and  autumn  leaves  were  very  gay. 

Sometimes,  small  baskets  were  cut  out  of  silk, 
and  made  up  into  the  same  style,  of  pincushion, 
with  a  slender  handle  plaited  of  different  colored 
ribbons,  and  a  medallion  painted  upon  the  side. 
Elaborate  boxes  were  made  of  paper  and  silk  and 
miniature  landscapes  were  painted  upon  them, 
with  the  greatest  of  care  and  patience.  Mirrors 
were  inserted  into  the  lid  of  the  box  on  the  inside, 
making  a  brilliant  bit  of  decoration. 

Sister  Frederica  Boehler,  who  lived  in  the  Sis- 
ters' House,  was  famous  for  her  birthday  verses. 
She  had  an  easy  facility  in  rhymning,  wrote  an 
exquisite  hand,  and  her  little  verses  were  highly 


108    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

prized.  On  birthdays  slie  always  made  up  a  tiny 
little  bouquet  from  her  window  plants,  of  which 
she  had  many,  edging  the  flowers  with  rose  gera- 
nium leaves,  tying  them  with  ribbons.  This  lit- 
tle bouquet  accompanied  by  an  original  verse  ex- 
pressing her  congratulations  always  went  to  her 
friends  on  their  birthdays.  Her  rooms  w^ere  in 
the  Church  Street  front  of  the  Sisters'  House  on 
the  second  floor  and  must  have  looked  like  a  con- 
servatory with  the  lovely  blooms  she  always  had. 
A  specialty  w^as  a  certain  variety  of  a  climbing 
white  rose,  which  she  trained  around  her  win- 
dow. When  a  little  child  died  it  was  the  custom 
to  place  a  rose  of  this  particular  variety  in  its 
hand  when  laid  out  in  the  tiny  coffin,  and  Sister 
Boehler  never  forgot  to  send  one. 

The  country  people  had  a  saying  that  a  plant 
once  used  for  that  purpose  would  never  bloom 
again  but  Sister  Boehler  disproved  that  by  her 
frequent  use  of  her  vine. 

Sister  Agnes  Kluge,  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Sister  Boehler,  and  loved  these  fragrant  little 
greetings,  pressed  them,  and  kept  the  little  verses 
with  the  pressed  bouquets.  Perhaps  they 
brought  back  memories  of  the  beautiful  garden  at 
Salem,  North  Carolina,  which  she  enjoyed  so 
much  when  Brother  Kluge  and  she  were  living 
there  while  he  was  administrator. 

Sister  Boehler  was  the  granddaughter  of  that 
hardy  pioneer  Bishop  Peter  Boehler,  in  fact  his 


Birthdays 


109 


last  descendant,  was  highly  educated,  and  very 
refined.  She  was  small,  with  a  round  face,  and 
"apple  cheeks,"  and  her  nickname  of  "Fritzi"  is 
a  key  to  her  sunny  disposition.  Nevertheless, 
she  was  dignified,  and  commanded  great  respect. 
Her  friend.  Sister  Kluge,  was  a  handsome  wom- 
an, very  fair,  with  dark  eyes  and  came  to  this 
country  with  her  cousin,  Lewis  David  deSchwein- 
itz.  Here  she  married  Charles  Frederick  Kluge, 
and  lived  with  him  through  his  services  in  all  of 
the  Moravian  settlements,  in  this  country,  and 
for  the  years  he  served  in  the  General  Board  at 
Herrnhut. 

They  returned  to  this  country  again,  settling 
at  Bethlehem,  and  finally  Nazareth,  and  it  was 
during  these  years  that  Sister  Boehler  and  Sister 
Kluge  enjoyed  their  poetic  friendship. 

A  very  lovely,  gentle  sister  of  this  time,  was 
Sister  Jedediah  Weiss  of  Scotch  birth.  Her 
family  came  to  Virginia,  from  which  state  she 
came  to  Pennsylvania  to  teach  in  the  Young 
Ladies'  Seminary  at  Bethlehem.  Here  Jedediah 
Weiss,  the  "old  Basso"  met  and  married  her,  and 
they  immediately  took  their  place  high  in  the  re- 
gard of  the  community,  and  in  the  service  of  the 
church  they  dearly  loved.  A  devoted  wife  and 
mother  she  lived  to  an  honored  old  age,  celebrat- 
ing her  golden  wedding  with  her  husband. 

The  Weiss  homestead  was  one  of  the  first  to  be 
built  upon  the  old  Widows'  House  farm,  and  here 


110    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

they  devoted  themselves  to  the  pastoraj  labor  of 
raising  bees,  although  Jedediah  was  a  watch- 
maker by  trade. 

Their  home  life  was  an  ideal  one,  love  and  af- 
fection the  ruling  spirit,  in  fact  the  golden  rule 
was  certainly  lived  in  this  family.  Caroline 
Brown,  a  close  friend,  always  spoke  of  the  home 
as  her  "Bethany,"  referring  to  the  old  hymn 

Tune  185.. 

Bethany,  O  Peaceful  habitation. 

Blessed  mansion,  loved  abode ; 
There  my  Lord  had  oft  His  resting  station 

Converse  held  in  friendly  mood; 
With  that  bliss  which  Mary  highly  savored; 
I  V70uld  wish  this  day  still  to  be  favored; 

But  Thy  presence  makes  to  me 

Every  place  a  Bethany. 

Sister  Weiss  was  ten  days  older  than  her  hus- 
band, her  birthday  falling  upon  February  11th, 
and  his  on  February  21st,  so  the  birthday  cele- 
bration was  a  united  one  on  February  21st. 
This  occasion  took  the  form  of  an  early  sup- 
per or  tea,  for  all  the  grown  ups,  and  on  the 
next  day,  February  22d  the  birthday  of  George 
Washington,  there  was  a  vesper  for  the  many 
grandchildren,  in  honor  of  the  three  birthdays. 
For  this  vesper,  ^^grandmother's  skill"  produced 
so  many  tempting  cakes  and  dainties  that  the 
children  always  begged  to  stay  and  help  "clear 


Birthdays 


111 


up,''  so  they  could  demolish  everything  that 
might  be  left  over. 

This  was  a  privilege  they  always  enjoyed  after 
every  party  at  Grandmother  Weiss,  the  invita- 
tion "come  and  help  clear  up"  was  instantly  ac- 
cepted and  if  by  chance  any  of  the  "Dutch  dough- 
nuts" still  remained,  they  disappeared  in  short 
order. 

When  vespers  were  given  for  children,  the 
birthday  cake  with  its  lighted  candles  occupied 
the  center  of  the  table,  of  cour^e^  but  small  cakes 
were  served,  also,  cut  in  shapes  of  animals  and 
birds. 

Sister  Augusta  Christ  gave  a  vesper  for  her  lit- 
tle niece,  at  which  she  served  these  cakes  made  in 
various  forms,  and  was  very  much  amused  when 
one  of  her  juvenile  guests  remarked  upon  the 
fact  that  all  of  the  different  shapes  were  made  of 
the  same  dough ! 

However,  the  appetite  of  this  small  connoisieur 
was  not  affected  by  this  discovery. 

The  Christs  lived  next  to  the  old  Heckewelder 
house  on  Cedar  Street,  in  a  little  low  cottage  with 
a  high  stoop.  Brother  and  Sister  Matthew 
Christ  were  the  parents  of  Sister  Augusta  just 
mentioned,  and  if  anyone  understood  the  art  of 
vesper-giving,  it  was  Mrs.  Christ.  Such  gather- 
ings of  good  friends  as  met  at  her  home,  wel- 
comed with  so  much  hospitality,  kindliness  and 
sincerity !    Never  a  birthday  did  she  forget  and 


112    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


happy  were  the  days  of  preparation.  The  good 
things  that  came  out  of  the  kitchen  to  grace  the 
birthday  table  were  evidences  of  her  own  culinary 
skill,  her  famous  "baba''  cake,  and  sponge  cake 
were  always  produced;  the  flowers  on  the  table 
were  from  her  own  garden ;  the  exquisite  napery 
brought  from  England  was  used;  her  Meissen 
China ;  and  the  general  air  of  elegance  combined 
with  simplicity,-  was  only  a  background  for  the 
lovable  woman  herself. 

Surrounded  by  her  friends  at  the  festal  board, 
there  was  an  instant  pause  before  the  singing  of 
the  grace,  and  then,  most  heartily,  they  sang  the 
birthday  hymn. 

Tune  185. 

*Witli  Thy  presence,  Lord  our  Head  and  Saviour, 

Bless  our  Sister,  now  we  pray 
Our  dear  Heavenly  Father's  love  and  favor 
Be  her  comfort  every  day. 
"May  the  Holy  Ghost  in  each  proceeding 
Favor  her  with  His  most  gracious  leading 
So  may  she  be  truly  blest 
Both  in  labor  and  in  rest." 

The  "brightly  shining''  birthday  cake  was  the 
chief  feature  of  the  occasion.  It  was  elaborately 
iced,  lettered  with  a  birthday  greeting,  and  the 
age  of  the  "birthday  child''  was  heavily  applied 
in  numerals.  Of  course  the  celebrant  cut  her 
cake,  herself,  making  of  it  quite  a  ceremony,  and 
if  a  piece  of  elaborate  icing  which  fell  to  the 


Birthdays 


113 


share  of  a  friend,  happened  to  contain  one  of  the 
decorations  in  its  entirety,  it  was  carefully  treas- 
ured for  many  years  as  a  keepsake. 

Growing  against  the  south  wall  of  the  house 
there  was  a  brier  rose  which  had  developed  great 
luxuries.  The  gay  pink  flowers  looked  in  through 
the  open  window  upon  this  gathering  of  people 
who  were  not  only  daily  intimates,  but  spiritual 
friends ;  something  much  finer  and  sweeter  than 
mere  intimacy,  and  with  a  fragrance  as  of  roses. 

It  is  said  that  about  the  rather  austere  rooms 
of  Sister  Christ  there  clung  a  faint  aroma  as  of 
flowers  that  have  gone.  Perhaps  it  was  the  im- 
palpable distillation  of  the  true  kindliness  of 
Christian  love ! 

Sister  Christ  w^as  a  teacher  of  the  Parochial 
school  for  nineteen  years  of  her  married^  not  sin- 
gle, life.  She  held  her  classes  in  her  little  home, 
teaching  the  primary  girls  how  to  sew  samplers 
amongst  other  things,  giving  them  only  the  al- 
phabet in  capital  letters  and  small  letters  and  the 
numerals  up  to  ten  to  apply  upon  their  canvas, 
and  finish  with  the  name  of  the  small  worker. 
Teacher  and  housekeeper  and  mother,  all  three 
in  one !  Her  fame  spread  beyond  the  borders  of 
the  town,  and  ^^outsiders"  sent  their  children  to 
her  to  be  educated  and  given  a  Moravian  up- 
bringing, a  care  that  her  busy  life  was  not  too  full 
to  accept. 


112    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


happy  were  the  days  of  preparation.  The  good 
things  that  came  out  of  the  kitchen  to  grace  the 
birthday  table  were  evidences  of  her  own  culinary 
skill,  her  famous  "baba''  cake,  and  sponge  cake 
were  always  produced;  the  flowers  on  the  table 
were  from  her  own  garden ;  the  exquisite  napery 
brought  from  England  was  used;  her  Meissen 
China ;  and  the  general  air  of  elegance  combined 
with  simplicity,-  was  only  a  background  for  the 
lovable  woman  herself. 

Surrounded  by  her  friends  at  the  festal  board, 
there  was  an  instant  pause  before  the  singing  of 
the  grace,  and  then,  most  heartily,  they  sang  the 
birthday  hymn. 

Tune  185. 

'With  Thy  presence,  Lord  our  Head  and  Saviour, 

Bless  our  Sister,  now  we  pray 
Our  dear  Heavenly  Father's  love  and  favor 
Be  her  comfort  every  day. 
"May  the  Holy  Ghost  in  each  proceeding 
Favor  her  with  His  most  gracious  leading 
So  may  she  be  truly  blest 
Both  in  labor  and  in  rest." 

The  "brightly  shining''  birthday  cake  was  the 
chief  feature  of  the  occasion.  It  was  elaborately 
iced,  lettered  with  a  birthday  greeting,  and  the 
age  of  the  "birthday  child"  was  heavily  applied 
in  numerals.  Of  course  the  celebrant  cut  her 
cake,  herself,  making  of  it  quite  a  ceremony,  and 
if  a  piece  of  elaborate  icing  which  fell  to  the 


Birthdays 


113 


share  of  a  friend,  happened  to  contain  one  of  the 
decorations  in  its  entirety,  it  was  carefully  treas- 
ured for  many  years  as  a  keepsake. 

Growing  against  the  south  wall  of  the  house 
there  was  a  brier  rose  which  had  developed  great 
luxuries.  The  gay  pink  flowers  looked  in  through 
the  open  window  upon  this  gathering  of  people 
who  were  not  only  daily  intimates,  but  spiritual 
friends ;  something  much  finer  and  sweeter  than 
mere  intimacy,  and  with  a  fragrance  as  of  roses. 

It  is  said  that  about  the  rather  austere  rooms 
of  Sister  Christ  there  clung  a  faint  aroma  as  of 
flowers  that  have  gone.  Perhaps  it  was  the  im- 
palpable distillation  of  the  true  kindliness  of 
Christian  love ! 

Sister  Christ  was  a  teacher  of  the  Parochial 
school  for  nineteen  years  of  her  married,  not  sin- 
gle, life.  She  held  her  classes  in  her  little  home, 
teaching  the  primary  girls  how  to  sew  samplers 
amongst  other  things,  giving  them  only  the  al- 
phabet in  capital  letters  and  small  letters  and  the 
numerals  up  to  ten  to  apply  upon  their  canvas, 
and  finish  with  the  name  of  the  small  worker. 
Teacher  and  housekeeper  and  mother,  all  three 
in  one !  Her  fame  spread  beyond  the  borders  of 
the  town,  and  ^^outsiders"  sent  their  children  to 
her  to  be  educated  and  given  a  Moravian  up- 
bringing, a  care  that  her  busy  life  was  not  too  full 
to  accept. 


114    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Most  decidedly  she  was  a  power  in  tlie  com- 
munity ;  a  figure  which  stands  out  in  bold  relief 
even  against  the  uncommon  background  of  that 
day. 


VI 

A  Teanquil  Community 


iJ  1  1  iiVi  rn 

1 — H 

^-1 

 «i — 1 

•  


r 


Peace  be  to  this  congregation 
Peace  to  every  soul  therein; 


VI 


A  Tranquil  Community 

HE  orchards  owned  by  the  congregation 


lay  on  the  sunny  slope  to  the  south  of  the 


choir  houses,  known  as  "the  Sisters'  Hill. ' 
They  were  the  great  pride  and  joy  of  their  owners 
and  were  exceedingly  well-kept.  A  fine  row  of 
black  cherry  trees  of  symmetrical  growth  pro- 
vided dense  shade  besides  bearing  abundant  fruit 
and  a  pleasant  walk  led  under  them  down  to  the 
creek. 

Great  was  the  activity  here  when  fruit-picking 
time  came  around,  for  this  brought  the  only  occa- 
sion when  the  sexes  were  allowed  to  mingle.  At 
all  other  times  there  was  a  rigid  separation  of  the 
sexes,  for  nearly  a  century. 

The  making  of  Schnitz;  to  which  the  fruit 
picking  was  preliminary,  required  the  assistance 
of  the  brethren,  and  you  may  be  sure  they  never 
shirked.  They  gathered  the  fruit  and  hauled  it 
to  the  Schnitz  House,  the  high-gabled  plaster  cot- 
tage to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Sisters'  House, 
and  there  it  awaited  the  coming  of  the  gentler 
sex. 

Imagine  the  excitement  in  the  Sisters'  House 
all  day!    Not  that  it  interfered  with  their  own 


117 


"around  by  the  pfortchen,"  or  hooded  doorway. 


A  Tranquil  Community  119 


daily  work,  for  of  course  the  Deaconess  saw  to 
that, — but  you  may  be  sure  that  it  was  only  the 
very  old  and  feeble  sisters  who  did  not  see  to  it 
that  their  caps  and  kerchiefs  were  immaculate 
and  their  pink  ribbons  fresh !  "Prinking''  would 
have  been  worldly, — but  cleanliness  was  a  neces- 
sity! 

When  the  early  supper  was  over,  they  formed 
in  procession,  and  went  out  of  the  heavy  doors, 
under  the  locust  trees  now  hanging  full  of  their 
red  berries,  and  up  the  path  to  the  Schnitz  House, 
the  harvest  moon  just  rising  over  the  tree  tops  in 
the  early  dusk. 

Seated  in  circles,  with  huge  baskets  of  red- 
cheeked  apples  before  them,  they  busily  cut  all 
evening  long,  with  the  caretaker  of  the  Schnitz 
House  dried  the  fruit  in  her  ovens.  The  breth- 
ren handled  the  heavy  trays  and  managed  the 
fires  blazing  in  a  welcome  manner  in  the  early 
October  evening. 

The  hour  of  ten  was  just  as  fateful  to  this  gath- 
ering as  was  midnight  to  Cinderella  at  her  bail, 
for  with  its  stroke  all  work  ceased,  and  every 
body  went  home.  Of  course  it  was  against  all 
rules  for  a  brother  to  take  a  sister  home,  even  if 
It  was  just  across  the  garden,  as  two  by  two  they 
went  Jiome,  just  as  they  came,  in  charge  of  their 
Deaconess. 

But  once  in  a  while,  the  ranks  mysteriously 


120    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters. 


thinned,  and  a  sister  did  manage  to  get  home  via 
the  back  way,  under  masculine  protection. 

Old  Christel  Luch  would  often  tell  tales  of  this 
evening  and  chuckle  with  delight  as  he  recalled 
the  w^ays  in  which  they  circumvented  authority. 
Occasionally,  however,  authority  proved  smarter 
than  they,  and  woe  betide  the  poor  sinner  who 
got  caught,  for  punishment,  real  punishment,  fol- 
lowed swiftly.  According  to  old  Christel  (a 
well-known  resident  of  Bethlehem  nearly  a  cen- 
tury ago)  it  was  the  brother  w^ho  had  to  bear  it. 
So  here  is  one  case  on  record  where  the  blame  did 
not  fall  on  the  woman : 

This  Schnitz  business  grew  to  great  propor- 
tions. Many  orders  were  filled  from  far  and 
near,  and  each  choir  house  and  the  girls'  school 
had  to  have  its  allotment  for  the  winter.  The 
stores  also  kept  the  schnitz  for  sale. 

As  farms  began  to  be  developed  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town,  and  orchards  grew  up,  there 
were  more  schnitzing-bees.  The  farmer's  wife 
would  invite  her  friends  to  come  and  help  her 
make  her  own  supply  of  schnitz  and  great  would 
be  the  fun.  Apple  butter  was  also  made  in  great 
quantities  in  huge  copper  kettles,  and  was  the  ex- 
cuse for  another  evening  party,  the  young  folks 
walking  out  to  the  farm  and  back  again,  at  a 
later  period.  Mommy  Mack  was  famous  for  her 
apple  butter,  and  everyone  loved  to  go  and  help 
her  make  it. 


A  Tranquil  Community  121 


Apple  butter  like  hers  was  well-known,  and  or- 
dered by  the  same  families  from  year  to  year,  the 
Eeeder  and  Maxwell  families  of  Easton  always 
had  their  orders  on  flle  for  the  various  products 
of  Mommy  Mack's  skill. 

But,  these  and  the  apple  butter  parties  be- 
longed more  to  the  country  round  about. 

Carpet  rag  parties  were  popular  in  the  village. 
Everybody  saved  clothing,  etc.,  for  this  last  serv- 
ice. Strictly  utilitarian  were  these  people  and 
as  carpets  and  rugs  they  had  to  have,  they  made 
them. 

Half  way  up  Market  Street  hill  in  the  old  home 
of  Mommy  Schindler,  we  find  Mommy  Bush. 
(This  affectionate  dimutive  was  bestowed  upon 
all  old  women,  and  old  men  were  called  daddy  or 
pappy) 

Mommy  Bush  was  famous  for  her  rag  parties, 
and  she  was  considered  to  have  nicer  rags  than 
anyone  else  because  her  husband  was  a  weaver 
and  had  fine  pieces  left  over.  She  gave  her  par- 
ties in  the  evening,  and  every  one  always  at- 
tended and  tried  to  sew  the  greatest  number  of 
balls.    Nine  was  the  average. 

Kefreshments  were  served  to  the  sewers  where 
they  sat  at  work  in  a  circle.  First  a  towel  was 
passed  around,  with  one  end  wet,  for  carpet  rags 
soil  the  fingers ;  and  this  towel  was  to  wash  the 
fingers  with  one  end  and  dry  them  with  the  other 


122    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

end,  so  economizing  time  and  consequent  laundry 
work. 

Plates  were  handed  round,  and  huge  dough- 
nuts, for  Mommy  Bush  made  them  as  big  as  your 
hand.  And  then  came  the  piece  de  resistance, 
custard  pie  two  inches  deep,  with  the  inevitable 
mug  of  coffee  holding  nearly  a  pint. 

Having  done  their  duty  to  the  tune  of  nine 
balls,  having  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  good  things 
to  eat  provided  by  the  generous  hostess  and  forti- 
fied the  inner  man  against  the  cold  without  by 
the  steaming  hot  coffee, — the  guests  now  put  on 
large  carpet  shoes  over  their  ordinary  shoes,  and 
with  swinging  lanterns  in  their  hands  wended 
their  way  homewards  over  the  slippery  roads,  in 
the  winter  darkness. 

Mommy  Bush  kept  up  the  hospitable  traditions 
of  the  neighborhood  for  Mommy  Schindler,  who 
lived  next  door,  was  also  well-known  for  her  gen- 
erous hospitality. 

Born  in  Moravia,  Maria  Magdalena  Wetzel, 
emigrated  to  this  country,  and  here  married 
George  Schindler,  also  of  Moravian  birth.  On 
the  last  day  of  May  in  1792,  Schindler  was  in- 
stalled as  landlord  of  the  old  Crown  Inn,  the 
tavern  which  the  brethren  had  erected  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  river,  standing  where  the 
Union  Depot  is  at  present  situated.  For  two 
years  and  a  half,  they  lived  there,  until  October 
of  1794,  when  the  inn  was  finally  closed ;  thus  the 


A  Tranquil  Community  123 


Schindlers  were  the  last  host  and  hostess  of  this 
historic  tavern  known  to  many  of  Eevolutionary 
fame  as  the  Bethlehem  Tavern. 

As  Schindler  was  a  linen  weaver  he  was  able 
to  fall  back  upon  his  trade  and  so  leave  his  wid- 
ow, when  he  died  in  1809,  her  cottage  home  and  a 
modest  nest  egg;  to  which  she  was  able  to  add 
by  her  industry.  The  spinning  wheel  was  her 
stand-by,  and  many  an  odd  penny  it  earned  for 
her  exchequer.  Young  people  were  greatly  at- 
tracted to  Mammy  Schindler,  for  she  had  in 
superlative  degree  the  quality  of  sympathy  and 
understanding.  Children  adored  her,  and  she 
would  often  invite  them  to  vesper  with  her,  on 
which  occasion  she  would  always  provide  "some- 
thing freshly  baked"  for  their  little  stomachs, 
and  fairy  stories  for  their  little  ears. 

The  children  of  our  missionaries  held  a  special 
place  in  her  regard  and  this  truly  generous  wom- 
an would  stint  herself  to  provide  necessities  for 
those  children  placed  in  our  schools  by  their 
missionary  parents  in  distant  places. 

Her  bounty  was  endless,  whatever  she  had  was 
her  friends' — in  season  the  fruits  of  her  garden 
provided  gifts;  in  the  winter  months  nuts  and 
plates  of  doughnuts,  fritters  or  pancakes  car- 
ried her  greetings. 

Of  course  she  kept  pigs  and  chickens  and  these 
were  another  source  of  delight  to  the  kiddies. 
Her  garden  boundary  was  also  that  of  the  Hecke- 


124    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

welder  garden,  so  she  and  good  old  Daddy  Hecke- 
welder  found  the  children  a  source  of  mutual 
pleasure,  as  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  childhood 
finds  its  counterpart  in  that  of  old  age. 

The  interior  of  Sister  Schindler's  home  was 
sparsely  furnished.  She  rented  the  rooms  she 
really  did  not  need,  also  the  old  workshop,  re- 
taining for  herself  only  one  which  she  used  as 
kitchen,  parlor  and  bedroom. 

Her  bed  was  in  a  chimney  recess  with  a  curtain 
drawn  across  it  in  the  daytime.  The  floor  was 
covered  with  a  rag  carpet.  A  few  wooden  chairs 
(the  kind  with  the  gaily  colored  fruit  and  flowers 
painted  on  the  back)  a  footstool,  with  an  eight- 
day  clock,  the  spinning  wheel  and  a  rush  bot- 
tomed chair  for  the  latter,  completed  the  list  of 
her  belongings.  There  was  a  huge  tortoise  shell 
cat  to  put  the  finishing  touch  to  the  picture,  and 
he  must  have  known  his  artistic  value  for  it  is 
said  he  laid  on  the  sunny  window  sill  and  purred 
like  a  big  bumble  bee. 

Doubtless  he  was  the  joy  of  her  life,  for  her 
affectionate  disposition  demanded  something  to 
love  and  constant  companionship. 

As  the  years  sped  on  they  brought  physical 
frailties  to  her.  She  became  almost  blind,  had  to 
give  up  her  spinning  and  her  household  duties, 
and  became  dependent  upon  her  tenants,  who 
were  her  very  good  friends.  She  was  very  re- 
bellious against  this  helpless  condition,  and  con- 


A  mid-century  sister  in  her  black  sunbonnet 


A  Tranquil  Community  125 


stantly  prayed  for  death,  speaking  of  heaven  and 
those  who  had  gone  before  to  every  one  who  came 
to  see  her.  Her  visitors  were  many,  as  she  was 
greatly  beloved  and  they  were  always  asked  to 
pray  for  her  speedy  ^^home-going'' ;  more  than 
once  she  added  a  message  to  be  given  to  other 
friends  "tell  them  to  remind  the  Lord  that  I  am 
here  upon  earth,''  for  she  fancied  that  perhaps 
God  had  forgotten  it. 

She  had  her  grave  clothes  prepared,  and  a  sum 
of  money  set  aside  for  funeral  expenses  and  yet 
she  continued  to  live  on. 

But  eventually  the  call  came;  and  then — she 
did  not  want  to  go!  She  clung  to  life,  saying 
that  "after  all  it  was  very  sweet  and  pleasant, 
and  that  it  was  easier  to  speak  of  death  when  he 
was  distant  than  actually  to  meet  him" ! 

The  minister  made  many  visits  during  her  ill- 
ness and  held  much  spirited  intercourse  with  her 
striving  to  have  her  regain  her  former  Christian 
faith  and  desire.  As  the  flesh  weakened  the 
Spirit  returned  and  when  she  entered  the  dark 
valley  it  was  with  happiness  that  she  finally  fold- 
ed her  hands  and  went  to  sleep. 

She  rests  in  the  old  graveyard,  but  a  stone's 
throw  from  her  garden.  Even  in  death  she  is  not 
without  children  around  her,  for  scores  of  boys 
and  girls  daily  pass  her  resting  place  on  their 
way  to  the  brick  schoolhouse  under  the  horse 
chestnut  trees. 


126    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

And  as  children  of  to-day  love  doughnuts  and 
sugar  cakes  as  much  as  those  of  a  century  ago,  I 
have  no  doubt  they  would  joyfully  welcome  back 
Mammy  Schindler  and  her  vespers. 

A  little  farther  up  the  street  lived  Sister  Su- 
sanna Bourquin,  wife  of  the  village  cabinet- 
maker. They  were  very  poor,  but  when  money 
came  in  Pappy  Bourquin,  who  was  a  great  bot- 
anist, at  once  spent  it  for  plants,  often  sending 
to  Philadelphia  for  rare  bulbs  when  he  was  so 
poor  he  could  not  buy  meat.  He  and  John  Bart- 
ram,  of  Philadelphia,  who  laid  out  the  famous 
gardens  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  were 
great  friends. 

The  Bourquins  had  a  lovely  garden  of  their 
own  to  the  rear  of  their  house,  in  which  grew  a 
very  unusual  collection  of  cacti ;  and  it  was  quite 
the  thing  to  visit  this  garden  as  a  Sunday  after- 
noon diversion,  and  go  from  there  to  the  vine- 
yards on  the  sunny  slopes  of  the  western  hill  and 
buy  the  grapes  (in  season). 

Sister  Bourquin  worked  in  the  garden  very 
faithfully  enjoying  the  beauty  of  the  flowers  as 
much  as  her  husband,  enjoying  also  the  social 
intercourse  which  they  brought. 

Like  a  good  wife  she  also  kept  Daddy  Bourquin 
working  at  his  trade  a  grewsome  part  of  which 
was  the  making  of  coffins.  His  low  funds  were 
always  a  source  of  embarrassment  to  him,  and 
he  probably  had  not  enough  money  on  hand  to 


A  Tranquil  Community  127 

buy  lumber  in  sufficient  quantity  for  his  business, 
for  it  is  said  that  he  made  his  coffins  so  small  he 
broke  many  a  nose  when  he  put  on  the  lids ! 

One  he  made  so  small  they  could  not  squeeze 
the  poor  corpse  into  it;  so  he  gave  it  to  Sister 
Susanna,  and  she  kept  her  Schnitz  in  it !  Thus 
making  the  best  of  a  bad  bargain,  as  doubtless 
she  had  to  do  very  often,  for  the  wives  of  scien- 
tists as  well  as  of  poets  and  artists  have  to  con- 
tend with  temperament  ( !)  and  it  is  only  the 
eternal  adaptability  of  the  partner  who  prom- 
ises to  love,  honor  and  obey  that  makes  a  success 
of  matrimony  under  such  conditions. 

Perhaps  Sister  Susanna  drowned  many  a  sor- 
row in  the  cup  which  cheers  at  her  daily  vesper. 
Think  of  the  comfort  of  that  half  hour  in  the 
midst  of  a  busy  day ! 

By  this  time,  while  the  daily  vesper  was  part  of 
the  accepted  order  if  things,  vesper  parties  be- 
gan to  creep  in. 

The  charming  vespers !  Absolutely  sui  generis, 
and  fast  going  the  way  of  so  many  lovely  things, 
in  the  rampant  industrialism  of  to-day ! 

Women  met  to  sew,  to  knit  or  whatever  the 
practical  need  of  the  particular  day  might  be. 
It  was  a  desire  for  social  intercourse  that  moved 
them,  and  yet  their  sense  of  duty  required  a  utili- 
tarian application  of  the  time ;  in  fact  the  limited 
resources  of  the  day  demanded  constant  work. 

The  hour  was  half  past  two.  At  three  they  had 


128    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


yesper,  a  light  repast  consisting  usually  of  sugar 
cake  and  coffee,  of  which  they  partook  after  the 
singing  of  the  grace. 

Tune  79. 

What  praise  to  Thee,  my  Saviour, 
Is  due  for  every  favor, 

E'en  for  my  daily  food : 
Each  crumb  Thou  dost  allow  me. 
With  gratitude  shall  bow  me. 

Accounting  all  for  me  too  good. 

John  Gambold,  lYll-71. 

a  little  act  of  real  ^Yorship  that,  never  overlooked, 
was  sung  with  complete  understanding. 

The  rest  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  conver- 
sation while  busy  fingers  worked.  The  subjects 
were  practical  or  helpful,  never  harmful  or  mali- 
cious. It  was  considered  very  bad  form  to  criti- 
cise anyone  who  was  absent,  and  the  entire  spirit 
of  the  occasion  was  one  of  complete  simplicity 
and  kindliness. 

When  vespers  were  given  upon  noteworthy  oc- 
casions a  decided  tone  of  elegance  was  given  to 
the  affair.  Ancestral  silver  was  brought  out; 
the  finest  and  heaviest  of  linens,  handwoven,  with 
the  crest  or  initials  of  the  owner  in  the  corners ; 
Old  Meissen  or  Spode  china ;  and  the  Baron  Stie- 
gel  glass  in  some  families.  The  every-day  sugar 
cake  gave  way  to  sponge,  or  "baba"  cakes ;  or  the 
rice  cake  of  which  Lafayette  was  so  fond  when  he 
was  regaled  with  it  at  the  Beckel  homestead. 


A  Tranquil  Community  129 


White  grape  jelly  was  also  considered  a  very 
great  dainty  to  serve  at  vesper. 

This  form  of  entertainment  was  so  common 
that  it  seems  useless  to  pick  out  a  few  names  for 
mention. 

Yet  there  were  a  few  groups  who  met  together 
quite  often,  and  I  do  not  mean  cliques,  when  I  say 
groups,  for  there  were  no  cliques  in  Bethlehem. 
Everyone  knew  everybody;  all  of  the  w^omen 
were  good  friends  and  perfectly  happy  to  be  to- 
gether, but  of  course  there  were  some  who  were 
very  close  friends,  and  consequently  were  often 
together. 

Mrs.  Lewis  David  de  Schweinitz  and  Mrs. 
Philip  Henry  Goepp  were  very  close  friends,  in 
fact  the  son  of  the  former  married  the  daughter 
of  the  latter.  Mrs.  Henry  Guetter  was  an  inti- 
mate friend,  and  the  talented  Mrs.  Caroline  Zorn, 
with  Mrs.  Fiot,  wife  of  the  Frenchman  who  built 
Bishopthrope  Manor,  and  Mrs.  Dutch,  wife  of 
the  sturdy  sea  captain  who  settled  here. 

Over  on  Broad  Street  there  was  Mrs.  James 
Borhek,  who  was  a  near  neighbor  and  good  friend 
of  Mrs.  Gustav  Grunewald,  wife  of  the  well- 
known  landscape  artist.  Mrs.  Henry  Luckenbach 
and  Mrs.  John  Levers  were  almost  within  call, 
with  Mrs.  George  Dixon,  dignified  and  proper, 
just  across  the  street.  A  short  distance  up  Broad 
Street  lived  Mrs.  Samuel  Brunner,  wife  of  the 


130     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

genial  justice  of  the  peace,  and  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  intercourse  between  these  sisters. 

Sister  Grunewald  was  possessed  of  a  keen  sense 
of  humor,  and  a  quick  tongue,  and  was  always 
the  life  of  the  party,  causing  merriment  which 
sometimes  gave  offence  to  "Mother''  de  Schwein- 
itz,  as  Mrs.  Lewis  David  de  Schweinitz  was  call- 
ed. "Sisters,  sisters,''  she  would  say,  "this  is  un- 
seemly. What  will  the  passers-by  think Mrs. 
Henry  Goundie  was  a  fine  pastry  cook  and  when 
her  dainty  cakes  were  ready,  word  w^ent  down  to 
her  friend  Mrs.  Matthew  Christ  the  shortest  way, 
(via  the  old  graveyards)  and  the  appointed  time 
would  see  that  sister  on  hand  with  her  knitting 
and  appetite. 

In  these  groups  we  see  the  fii^st  mention  of 
"outsiders''  that  ungracious  but  signiticant  (be- 
cause of  the  early  ideal  of  seclusion )  designation 
of  non-Moravians  who  had  settled  temporarily 
or  permanently  in  Bethlehem.  Mrs.  Fiot  was  the 
wife  of  the  Frenchman,  who  created  for  himself 
an  estate  on  the  present  site  of  Bishopthorpe 
School,  calling  it  Fontainebleu.  Mrs.  Dutch 
was  the  second  wife  of  the  sturdy  old  sailor  who 
built  the  fine  old  "Dutch  Mansion"  on  Xew 
Street,  now  torn  down  to  make  way  for  an  office 
building;  Mrs.  de  France  was  one  of  the  summer 
visitors  who  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  life 
of  the  town,  and  helped  introduce  Dame  Fashion 
to  those  of  the  gentle  sisters  who  had  eyes  to  see 


A  Tranquil  Community  131 

such  things.  Mrs.  Lachenour  was  a  member  of 
the  prominent  Easton  family  of  that  name, — and 
so  it  goes  on. 

The  discovery  of  coal  in  the  upper  Lehigh  re- 
gion rang  the  death  knell  of  the  halcyon  days  of 
old  Bethlehem. 

In  1829  the  Lehigh  canal  was  completed,  and 
the  fertile  fields  of  the  Brethren  adjoining  the 
river  had  to  be  given  up.  This  was  the  first  en- 
croachment of  the  utilitarian  upon  the  beautiful, 
for  many  a  fine  tree  and  greenwood  trail  had  to 
be  sacrificed,  notably  the  picturesque  path  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  river,  by  the  Doster  home- 
stead. Sister  Pauline  Doster  often  lamented  the 
passing  of  this  familiar  walk  and  quoted  ^^Bar- 
tow^s  Weg  and  LoskieVs  stein  Soil  mir  unver- 
gessUch  sein/' 

( Bartow^s  way  or  LoskieFs  stone  are  to  me,  un- 
f  orgottable. ) 

The  "stone"  was  a  great  rock  at  the  east  end  of 
the  walk,  near  the  rocks  of  Nisky  where  a  rustic 
seat  marked  the  end  of  the  walk. 

With  the  coming  of  the  canal,  various  new  busi- 
ness interests  developed  locating  chiefly  in  the 
lower  portion  of  the  village,  around  the  canal. 
Here  was  erected  Bethlehem's  third  hotel,  at  first 
called  Anchor  Hotel,  but  later  widely  known  as 
the  Fetter  House,  under  Herman  M.  Fetter.  Its 
first  landlord  was  Henry  Woehler,  captain  of  the 
Bethlehem  Guards,  and  a  veteran  of  the  battle  of 


132    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Waterloo,  who  ran  the  hotel  in  the  delightful  old- 
time  way,  when  your  landlord  was  really  your 
host.  His  most  notable  guest  was  Maximilian, 
Prince  of  Wied,  who  spent  the  summer  of  1832 
at  the  Anchor  accompanied  by  Bodmar,  a  friend 
and  artist  who  painted  several  beautiful  views  of 
the  village  and  river. 

Maximilian  added  largely  to  his  collection  of 
the  flora  of  North  America,  while  in  Bethlehem, 
and  notes  particularly,  in  this  volume  of  travel, 
that  he  sent  his  first  instalment  for  his  herbarium 
to  New  York  for  safe  keeping,  on  one  of  the  new 
canal  boats. 

The  Moravians  accepted  the  canal  very  hap- 
pily, on  the  whole,  and  made  of  it  a  source  of 
pleasure  as  well  as  profit.  It  was  great  fun  to 
have  canal  boat  parties,  picnicking  on  the  boats, 
as  they  went  on  their  way,  and  then  walking  back 
home,  or  boarding  another  boat  for  the  return. 

The  "Old  Frohsinn"  a  male  singing  club  which 
followed  the  Luderkranz,  hired  a  boat  for  the 
day,  took  their  little  rosewood  piano,  with  them 
down  to  the  lock  and  installed  it  upon  the  boat, 
and  all  day  long  there  was  music  in  the  air,  song 
after  song  echoing  from  hill  to  hill.  As  the  boat 
quietly  made  its  way  through  the  placid  water, 
the  bells  on  the  mules  would  disturb  the  humming 
birds  which  fluttered  in  great  numbers  around 
the  beautiful  wild  primroses,  or  the  boatman's 
horn  would  rouse  the  big  bull  frogs  which  leaped 


A  Tranquil  Community  133 


from  the  roots  of  tlie  old  trees  into  the  water  at 
his  approach. 

Ere  the  shadows  of  evening  fell  gently  upon  the 
landscape  the  party  turned  back  still  singing,  al- 
though The  Abschied  von  Walde  and  Abendgebet 
were  then  the  burden  of  their  song ;  and  as  they 
finally  wended  their  way  homeward  arm  in  arm 
through  the  quiet  streets,  with  the  full  moon  now 
high  in  the  sky,  their  voices  rose  once  more  in 
tuneful  serenade. 

And  the  sad  part  of  this  perfect  day  was  that 
the  only  share  which  the  sisters  had  in  it  was  the 
packing  of  the  generous  picnic  hampers ! 


VII 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  and  the  Old  Bell- 

EINGERS 


What  praise  to  Thee,  my  Saviour, 
Is  due  for  every  favor. 


VII 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  and  the  Old 

Bellringers 
rr\  HE  QUIET  PEACE  which  pervaded  Beth-' 


lehem  had  no  discordant  note  for  many 


years.  The  summer  suns  shone  on  days 
filled  with  honest  labor  and  evenings  given  up  to 
simple  pleasures;  reading  of  course,  as  many 
were  highly  educated  people  who  had  left  the 
highest  civilization  of  the  time  behind  them. 
Chess,  checkers  and  dominoes  were  much  enjoyed, 
but  games  of  cards  were  not  permitted ;  out-door 
games  were  encouraged,  especially  for  the  young- 
er people. 

The  great  delight  of  everybody  was  music, 
which  was  not  only  an  institution  of  the  church, 
but  the  chief  amusement,  also,  and  more  or  less 
knowledge  of  music  was  general.  Every  one  was 
expected  to  learn  it.  Children  were  put  into 
singing  classes  as  a  matter  of  course,  no  one  in- 
quired as  to  whether  they  had  a  singing  voice. 
Not  at  all;  they  were  instructed  just  the  same. 
In  fact  it  was  then  believed,  that  whoever  was 
able  to  calculate,  could  be  taught  music. 

Much  use  was  made  of  the  beautiful  river  with 
its  charming  islands  covered  with  tress  whose 


137 


138    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

shadows  were  reflected  in  the  quiet  water.  The 
mountains  rising  from  the  south  bank  of  the 
stream  were  covered  with  oak  hickory  and  but- 
tonwood  trees  of  every  size,  and  the  fertile  mead- 
ows of  the  Moravians  stretched  away  from  the 
north  bank.  A  charming  walk  had  been  laid  out 
along  these  meadows,  and  proved  to  be  a  paradise 
for  the  botanist  as  myriads  of  wild  flowers  grew 
along  its  way. 

Whit-Monday  was  a  great  holiday  in  this  com- 
munity, and  was  marked  by  a  most  delightful 
celebration,  on  the  river.  The  people  assembled 
at  the  boat  landing,  and  the  musicians  entered 
the  boat  provided  for  them ;  a  large,  flat-bottomed 
boat,  propelled  by  four  men  with  long  poles,  and 
carrying  music  stands  and  seats.  This  boat  led 
the  way,  the  others  following,  up  the  river,  every 
one  enjoying  the  music  which  had  been  written 
especially  for  this  day,  and  was  called  "Die  Was- 
serfarth"  or  the  "Boat  Kide,"  and  was  descrip- 
tive of  the  occasion  itself.  About  a  mile  to  the 
westward,  at  Willow  Eddy,  the  river  makes  an 
abrupt  turn,  forming  a  little  whirlpool.  The 
water  becomes  much  deeper,  and  the  composer 
made  use  of  this  natural  feature  by  causing  the 
music  to  express  great  peril,  fear  and  terror. 

The  poleman  kept  the  boat  in  the  eddy  long 
enough  for  the  musicians  to  perform  their  part ; 
then  released  it,  reentered  the  placid  stream  and 
to  the  accompaniment  of  lively  airs  and  graceful 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  139 


melodies  calmly  drifted  down  stream  with  the 
current. 

The  composer  of  this  music  was  David  Moritz 
Michael,  a  violin  virtuoso  who  spent  many  years 
in  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  and  a  man  who  left 
a  deep  impress  on  the  musical  life  of  the  town. 
Bro.  Charles  Beckel  said  of  him  "he  was  a  dear, 
good  man,  who  should  never  be  forgotten  by  us." 
A  water  color  portrait  of  him  painted  by  George 
Fetter  from  life,  was  in  existence  for  many  years. 

Every  where  they  could  slip  in  music  they  did 
so.  Who  but  they,  would  have  put  music  into  the 
mouth  of  a  night  watchman?  And  of  a  sacred 
character?  The  old  chap  who  patrolled  the  lit- 
tle village  came  on  duty  at  eight  p.  m.  and  called 
out  every  hour  from  then  until  six  a.  m.  in  a 
musical  couplet. 

vin 

Past  eight  o'clock!  Oh,  Bethlehem,  do  thou  ponder 
Eight  souls  in  Noah's  ark  were  living  yonder. 

IX 

'Tis  nine  o'clock!    Ye  brethren,  hear  it  striking, 
Keep  hearts  and  houses  clean  to  our  Saviour's  liking. 

X 

Now,  brethren,  hear!    The  clock  is  ten  and  passing. 
Now  rest  but  such  as  wait  for  Christ's  embracing. 

XI 

Eleven  is  past!  Still  at  this  hour  eleven. 
The  Lord  is  calling  us  from  earth  to  heaven. 


140    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


xn 

Ye  brethren  hear !   The  midnight  clock  is  humming, 
At  midnight  our  great  Bridegroom  will  be  coming. 

I 

Past  one  o'clock !    The  day  breaks  out  of  darkness. 
Great  morning  appear  and  break  our  darkness. 

II 

'Twas  two  I    On  Jesus  wait  this  silent  season. 
Ye  too  so  near  related,  will  and  reason. 

m 

The  clock  is  three !    The  blessed  three  do  merit. 
The  best  of  praise  from  body  soul  and  spirit. 

IV 

'Tis  four  o'clock!    When  three  make  supplication. 
The  Lord  will  be  the  fourth  on  that  occasion. 

V 

'Tis  five  o'clock!    Five  virgins  were  discarded. 
When  five  with  wedding  garments  were  rewarded. 

VI 

The  clock  is  six  and  I  go  off  my  station. 

Now  brethren,  watch  yourselves  for  your  salvation. 

Clad  in  a  long  great  coat  and  swinging  his 
hand-made  iron  lantern  lie  stood  on  the  corners 
of  the  streets  and  with  each  hour  of  the  clock  he 
tunefully  admonished  the  sleeping  brethren  to 
give  thought  to  their  future  state.   Two  sisters 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  141 


were  usually  detailed  as  a  night  watch  inside 
their  houses,  and  I  am  sure  handed  out  mugs  of 
hot  coffee  to  the  watchman  of  the  village,  just  as 
they  did  when  soldiers  guarded  their  entrance. 

Music  lessons  were  given  in  the  single  Breth- 
ren's house,  the  Girl's  School  and  the  Sisters' 
House,  at  first  free  of  charge,  but  later,  a  small 
fee  was  asked,  as  it  was  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
the  sisters  could  add  to  their  income.  The  more 
utilitarian  spinning,  weaving  and  knitting  were 
well-known  branches  of  industry.  Washington 
himself,  styled  the  Sisters'  House  "the  first  do- 
mestic manufactory  of  the  land"  where  he  made 
the  purchase  of  "blue  stripes"  for  his  lady,  and 
stout  woolen  hose  for  himself  on  that  summer  day 
in  1778. 

The  adjacent  Girls'  School  drew  upon  the  resi- 
dence of  the  choir  houses  for  its  teachers  for  a 
century  long  after  the  school  moved  into  new 
quarters  and  became  the  Young  Ladies'  Semi- 
nary. Many  of  the  best  teachers  lived  in  the  old 
houses,  and  went  to  the  school  to  give  instruction. 
The  fine  needlework  on  which  so  much  emphasis 
was  laid  was  taught  by  the  Sisters  who  were 
especially  engaged  for  this  branch. 

The  teachers  of  cultural  branches  had  a  stiff 
proposition  to  handle.  There  were  very  few 
school  books  in  those  days,  therefore  instruction 
had  to  be  oral  and  it  meant  diligent  study  for  the 
teacher ;  fortunately  education  was  simple. 


142    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

As  the  school  was  small,  it  was  possible  to  de- 
velop it  on  the  lines  of  a  family  circle,  the  ideal 
so  dear  to  Moravianism.  Kelaxation  and  past 
times  were  freely  indulged  in,  and  Wednesday 
half  holiday  was  devoted  to  walks  up  the  river, 
or  across  the  mountains.  Saturday  morning  was 
given  over  to  the  sewing  class,  which  included  a 
careful  examination  of  their  wardrobes,  one  pupil 
recording  in  her  diary  on  a  Saturday : 

"This  day  as  usual,  it  was  spent, 
In  mending  of  the  clothes  we  rent." 

Saturday  afternoon  was  free  time,  when  walk- 
ing, boating  or  gardening  could  be  indulged  in, 
after  the  vesper  hour. 

In  the  winter  evenings  the  little  circle  gathered 
around  one  of  the  teachers  with  distaff,  or  needle 
to  provide  employment  for  idle  fingers  and  lis- 
tened to  stories  of  religious  experience,  or  promi- 
nent people  at  home  and  abroad,  and  ere  the  early 
bed-time  came,  there  was  singing  with  guitar  or 
spinet  accompaniment. 

Occasionally  Saturday  would  be  a  "spinning 
day"  an  event  anticipated  with  great  pleasure, 
and  which  took  place  during  the  cold  winter, 
when  bad  weather  kept  them  indoors. 

The  eighth  of  March,  1789,  was  one  of  those 
days,  and  was  chronicled  in  a  vivid  manner  by  a 
pupil  as  follows : 


Some  TeacMng  Sisters 


143 


"Saturday,  March  8, 1789 — We  had  a  spinning 
day.  Early  in  the  morning  our  tutoresses  woke 
us  with  the  following  hymn,  accompanied  by  the 
sweet  notes  of  Sister  Sulamith's  guitar : 

"Awake,  dear  children,  early  rise. 
To  pay  your  morning  sacrifice 
To  God,  the  glorious  King  of  kings. 
Who  with  the  shadow  of  His  wingi 
Has  cover'd  you,  and  kept 
Thus  safely  while  you  slept  I 
With  countenances  all  serene 
Then  at  your  destined  work  be  seen. 
As  bees  most  busy. 
The  distafi  and  the  wheels  both  are 
Prepared;  and  flax  is  ready  there. 
Come,  take  in  hand  the  easy  task ; 
God  grant  you  succor  if  you  ask, 
Bid  sleep  farewell ;  (come,  haste  ye. 
The  spinning-pleasures  taste  ye." 

"After  breakfast  the  large  room  was  put  in  order 
for  the  business  of  the  day, — the  spinning-wheels 
arranged  in  one  row,  and  the  distaffs  in  two.  At 
nine  o'clock  our  tutoresses  presented  us  with  ap- 
ples. At  ten  o'clock  cakes  were  handed  round. 
We  had  several  of  the  Sisters  from  the  Sisters' 
House  visiting  us  throughout  this  day.  In  the 
evening  Sister  Hubener  complimented  us  with  a 
repast,  and  very  acceptable  after  the  labors  of 
the  day.    We  then  joined  in  chorus,  singing : 


144    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


"To  the  Giver  of  all  good! 
It  is  He  whose  blessing  raises 
All  that  gives  us  clothes  and  food. 
Who  of  you  could  ever  have  expected 
What  on  this  spinning-day  has  been  effected? 
Oh,  the  pleasure  is  most  sweet 
Eight  to  use  our  hands  and  feet." 

and  then  followed  an  original  composition  in 
verse  on  their  work,  recited  by  all  of  the  pupils, 
beginning  with  the  youngest  and  ending  with  the 
eldest,  "after  which  the  ringing  of  the  bell  sum- 
moned us  downstairs.'^ 

Bro.  W.  C.  Reichel  draws  such  a  pretty  picture 
of  these  small  maidens,  (ages  eight  to  fifteen)  at 
their  work,  that  I  give  it  to  you  in  his  words : 

"The  wheels  and  distaffs  are  ranged  along  the 
heavenly-pannelled  room,  and  the  little  spinsters, 
seated  on  wooden  settles,  prim  in  their  snow- 
white  caps  and  ruffled  Vandykes,  with  busy  fingers 
twist  the  yielding  flax.  Mirth  and  laughter 
mingle  with  the  hum  of  the  droning  wheel,  and 
the  enlivening  chorus  is  timed  by  the  pattering 
treadles  as  they  nimbly  worked  by  rows  of  tiny 
feet,  on  which  the  well-burnished  buckles  glitter 
Tvith  reflected  light.  The  group  and  their  employ- 
ment bring  forcibly  to  mind  the  ancient  praises 
of  the  wheel  and  distaff, — the  record  of  the  his- 
torian and  the  song  of  the  poet  portraying  scenes 
of  virtuous  household  industry,  where  the  ma- 
tron of  high  degree  is  seated  among  her  maidens, 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  145 


alloting  the  daily  task,  and  not  too  proud  to  ex- 
cite them  by  her  example  of  deeds  of  honest 
labor." 

The  Moravian  schools  were  known  in  many 
lands  and  wealthy  planters  of  the  South  and  of 
the  West  Indies  sent  their  daughters  to  the  semi- 
naries. 

Little  Miss  Peggy  Vriehuis,  of  St.  John's  W.  I. 
aged  eight  years,  was  sent  to  the  Bethlehem  school 
in  charge  of  a  faithful  negress  who  remained  for 
months  until  the  little  lady  was  accustomed  to 
the  new  residence  beyond  all  danger  of  home- 
sickness. "Nurse  Mintje"  was  given  her  own 
room  in  the  building,  and  here  seated  on  a  high- 
backed  chair,  she  spent  most  of  her  time,  her 
fingers  busily  occupied  with  strange  new  ma- 
terials, in  the  making  of  woolen  garments  for 
Miss  Peggy ;  garments  that  must  have  been  hard 
to  fashion  for  fingers  accustomed  to  fine  cambric 
and  linen. 

This  room  was  known  for  a  long  time  as 
"Mintje's  room"  although  the  negress  was  here 
only  four  months.  She  made  a  great  im|)ression 
with  her  broad,  black  face  under  the  gay  turban 
of  printed  cotton,  its  tropical  suggestions  such  a 
contrast  to  the  austere  chastity  of  the  snow- 
white  cap  the  sisters  wore. 

Kock-ribbed  New  England  also  sent  its  daugh- 
ters to  the  girls'  school.  The  most  interesting 
one,  historically,  was  Anna  Allan,  niece  of  Gen- 


146    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

eral  Ethan  Allan,  of  Eevolution  fame.  Allan 
visited  Bethlehem  in  1778,  and  doubtless  was  im- 
pressed most  favorably  with  what  he  saw,  and 
later  sent  his  niece  for  that  reason.  The  girl 
came,  never  to  return,  for  she  has  the  sad  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  first  pupil  to  die  in  the  school 
She  was  ill  only  a  short  time,  but  felt  a  premo- 
nition that  her  end  was  drawing  near.  A  w^eek 
before  the  end  came,  she  was  apparently  perfect- 
ly well,  and  one  of  a  group  at  the  Saturday  after- 
noon vesper  table,  and  here  she  stated  that  "upon 
the  next  Saturday  she  w^ould  be  a  guest  at  her 
Saviour's  table  in  Heaven.'^  The  remark  was 
prophetic,  for  in  less  than  a  week  her  teachers 
and  comrades  mourned  her  loss,  as  she  had  been 
dearly  beloved. 

The  interment  took  place  in  the  Moravian 
graveyard  on  the  hill  back  of  the  school,  and  her 
remains  were  followed  by  her  weeping  compan- 
ions, dressed  in  white.  Anna  had  asked  to  be 
buried  here,  and  her  grave  is  marked  by  the  same 
kind  of  slab,  a  small  rectangle,  which  distin- 
guishes all  of  the  other  graves. 

Sister  Kliest,  the  teacher  who  was  so  much 
loved,  wrote  a  poem  of  eleven  verses  upon  this 
death,  one  verse  of  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Our  Anna's  gone ! — ^gone  to  eternal  rest ; 
She  with  her  Saviour  is  supremely  blest; 
She,  whose  delight  it  was  to  play  and  sing, 
Now  hails  in  songs  sublime  the  matchless  King.'' 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  147 


The  many  visitors  who  came  to  the  town  were 
always  interested  in  the  girls'  school,  and  were 
courteously  shown  around,  and  explained  the 
system  of  education  used  by  the  Moravians. 

One  of  the  distinguished  visitors  early  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century  was  the  Eussian  Ambassa- 
dor. His  coming  was  known  in  advance  and  one 
of  the  little  girls  resolved  to  take  a  hand  in  the 
proceedings.  She  knew  he  would  be  shown  the 
dormitories  on  the  top  floor,  so  she,  cat-like, 
scrambled  up  to  the  loft  above  the  dormitories. 
It  was  here  the  trunks,  which  were  really  wooden 
chests,  of  the  pupils  were  kept,  pulled  up  through 
a  trapdoor  in  the  ceiling,  by  means  of  a  wind- 
lasSo  Up  here  the  curious  girl  secreted  herself, 
and  in  due  time  was  rewarded  by  seeing  the  prin- 
cipal, Bro.  Benade,  open  the  door  of  the  dormi- 
tory and  enter  the  hall  with  his  guest  and  reti- 
nue. BrOo  Benade  spoke  of  the  clean  airy  dormi- 
tories, so  well  cared  for  in  every  way,  told  of  how 
each  pupil  was  taught  to  take  care  of  her  own 
bed  and  braid  her  own  rug, — and  then  from  the 
heavens  above,  apparently,  came  a  shrill  voice, 
crying  out  "and  here  is  where  we  keep  our 
chists" ! 

Looking  up  in  amazement  they  saw,  in  bold  re- 
lief against  the  whitewashed  ceiling,  an  open 
black  square,  and  looking  down  upon  them, 
through  the  square,  the  laughing  rosy  face  of  a 


148    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

young  girl,  framed  in  its  close-fitting  cap  of 
white  I 

The  heroine  of  this  episode  was  no  other  than 
Sister  Mary  Allen,  familiarly  called  Polly,  who 
founded  the  Sunday  school  later. 

She  was  a  most  estimable  woman,  and  stood 
high  in  the  community,  where  her  entire  life,  save 
for  the  earliest  years,  was  spent.  At  a  very  ten- 
der age  she  was  placed  in  the  Girls'  School  by 
Dr.  Andrew  Craigie,  of  Boston,  as  his  niece,  but 
she  was  not  a  Moravian  then.  In  1804,  after  a 
long  visit  to  Philadelphia  she  returned  and  re- 
quested permission  to  reside  in  the  Sisters'  House 
and  enter  the  Church. 

Owing  to  the  usages  of  the  Church  at  that 
time,  admission  to  membership  was  a  matter  that 
required  long  consideration  and  while  permission 
was  granted  to  take  up  her  residence  in  the  Sis- 
ters' House,  the  Church  membership  was  held  off. 
This  proved  a  severe  trial  to  her  feelings,  but 
after  waiting  three  years,  at  the  urgent  solicita- 
tion of  Sister  Mary  Gill  who  acted  a  mother's 
part  toward  her,  she  obtained  permission  to  move 
to  Nazareth,  where  she  was  received  into  the  com- 
municant membership. 

Her  autobiography  contains  this  tribute  to 
those  probationary  years,  "How  graciously  our 
Saviour  drew  me  to  Himself  from  the  time  I  came 
to  live  in  the  Sisters'  House  at  Bethlehem,  and 
how  precious  and  quickening  to  my  heart  the 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  149 

meetings  of  the  congregation  were,  I  cannot  de- 
scribe.'' 

Sister  Allen  remained  in  Nazareth  until  1811, 
when  she  returned  to  Bethlehem  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  fine  needlework  in  the  Sisters'  House  and 
School,  gaining  for  herself  many  friends  amongst 
her  pupils.  Later,  she  again  returned  to  Naza- 
reth as  Deaconess  of  the  Sisters,  where  she  de- 
voted her  talents,  and  all  the  means  in  her  pos- 
session (which  were  considerable)  to  the  service 
of  the  Lord  and  the  promotion  of  His  cause  on 
earth.  Her  piety,  though  unobtrusive,  was  con- 
sistent, and  with  her  cultivated  mind  and  attrac- 
tive person  imparted  a  gentle  charm  to  her  man- 
ner. 

Her  rigid  adherence  to  the  rules  of  the  Breth- 
ren is  illustrated  by  the  following  story :  A  mar- 
ried sister,  living  near  Schoeneck  asked  Sister 
Allen  to  send  out  one  of  the  sisters  to  help  with 
the  spring  sewing.  Now  Schoeneck  is  three 
miles,  more  or  less,  from  Nazareth,  and,  as  the 
young  son  of  the  family  was  a  pupil  at  Nazareth 
Hal],  the  mother  proposed  that  the  sister  should 
walk  out  to  the  house  with  the  lad  when  he  re- 
turned from  school,  not  only  as  a  protector,  but 
to  show  the  sister  the  way. 

This  seemed  a  very  nice  arrangement,  but  the 
austere  deaconess  objected  on  account  of  the  dif- 
ference in  sex,  to  no  little  astonishment  of  tht) 


150    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

boy's  mother,  and  the  Sister,  with  her  sewing  bag, 
had  to  find  her  way  alone ! 

After  fifteen  years  Sister  Allen  resigned  and 
returned  to  Bethlehem  where  she  spent  the  rest 
of  her  life  in  retirement. 

While  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health  she  had 
been  exemplary  in  her  attendance  on  the  services 
of  the  Church,  and  when  no  longer  able  to  par- 
ticipate with  the  congregation  she  invited  a  few 
friends  and  her  pastor  to  her  room,  and  there 
united  in  a  special  service.  Gradually  she  w^as 
confined  to  her  bed,  where,  a  friend  of  hers  re- 
cords, *^she  bore  all  her  sufferings  with  great 
fortitude,  humbly  resigned  to  her  Saviour's  will." 

The  period  of  her  illness  was  lengthened  be- 
yond the  expectations  of  her  friends,  but  on  De- 
cember 26th  the  approach  of  death  was  apparent, 
and  her  friends  gathered  in  her  room.  Suitable 
hymns  were  sung,  prayer  was  offered,  and  the 
last  blessing  imparted.  She  lingered,  however, 
until  the  following  evening,  to  near  ten  o'clock, 
when  she  gently  fell  asleep  while  hymns  were  be- 
ing sung  by  the  sisters  in  attendance.  The  same 
friend  quoted  before  writes,  ^^Thus  she  entered 
into  the  joy  of  her  Lord  lacking  but  a  few  hours 
of  her  seventieth  year  and  on  the  very  eve  of  her 
birthday  which  had  once  marked  the  beginning 
of  her  earthly  course,  and  which  now  was  the 
first  to  dawn  after  her  entrance  upon  that  new 


Some  TeacMng  Sisters  151 


life  which  is  beyond  time  and  endures  through 
eternity." 

In  Bethlehem  Sister  Allen  is  chiefly  remem- 
bered as  the  founder  of  the  Sunday  schools.  The 
need  of  such  an  institution  was  very  evident  to 
her,  and  she  gathered  a  number  of  girls  around 
her  for  Bible  instruction  and  hymn  singing ;  with 
reading  and  spelling  because  some  of  the  chil- 
dren came  from  the  outlying  farms  and  had  no 
education.  She  gave  them  a  light  repast  before 
sending  them  home,  very  easily  managed  because 
she  held  her  Sunday  school  in  the  basement  of  the 
present  Old  chapel  which  was  the  dining  room  of 
the  married  brethren  and  sisters. 

Sister  Allen's  room  in  the  Sisters'  House  was 
the  southwest  corner  room,  directly  inside  the 
sun-dial  door.  This  room  was  her  home,  and  the 
only  home  she  ever  really  knew,  for  the  Mora- 
vians opened  their  doors  to  her  as  a  relative  of  a 
well-known  family,  not  as  the  daughter  of  such. 
Her  father  was  a  general  staff  officer  of  the  Con- 
tinental Army,  and  her  mother  was  a  beautiful 
Quakeress  whose  name  was  unknown  to  her  daugh- 
ter for  many  years.  Sometime  after  the  death  of 
her  mother.  Sister  Allen  was  invited  to  Easton 
for  the  day,  and  there,  in  the  beautiful  garden  of 
the  Churchman  family,  the  romantic  story  of  her 
mother's  early  love  was  told  to  her  by  the  only 
living  person  who  knew  it.  She,  too,  kept  the 
secret,  as  all  concerned  with  it  had  done. 


152    A  Centuiy  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Whether  she  dwelt  upon  it  in  the  still  hours  of 
the  night,  who  can  say?  Certain  it  is,  the  tale 
was  buried  with  her,  and  the  beautiful  Quakeress 
will  be  forever  denied  the  honor  of  being,  Polly 
Allen's  mother. 

Contemporary  with  Sister  Allen  was  Sister 
Anna  Kosina  Kliest,  one  of  the  most  popular 
teachers  in  the  school. 

The  day  the  principal  presented  her  to  the 
pupils  as  a  new  teacher  a  love-feast  was  held  for 
her,  and  the  children  sang  the  hymn.  ^^May  he 
bless  thee  so  sensibly.'^ 

The  first  class  she  held  was  in  one  of  the  fine 
arts,  painting,  and  she  was  the  first  instructor  of 
painting  in  the  school.  An  exceedingly  able 
woman,  gifted  in  a  large  degree,  she  impressed 
her  individuality  deeply  upon  the  sixteen  years 
she  was  in  the  school.  In  the  class  room  she 
made  such  use  of  the  oral  methods  of  the  time 
that  her  pupils  absorbed  their  knowledge  in  a 
most  happy  way.  In  the  room  company,  her 
winning  and  amiable  manners  won  her  much  af- 
fection, and  her  poetic  talent  was  in  constant  use' 
for  the  love-feasts  and  celebrations  of  all  kinds. 
Ehyming  was  as  easy  for  her  as  breathing  and 
some  of  her  verse  has  been  preserved.  Sister 
Kliest  was  a  great  lover  of  the  beauties  of  nature, 
and  often  planned  mountain  walks  and  trips  to 
the  Island,  and  best  and  most  thrilling  of  all, 
moonlight  trips  on  the  ferry ! 


Some  TeacMng  Sisters  153 


On  these  jaunts  she  chattered  to  the  girls  of 
the  natural  objects  they  saw  around  them;  of 
the  many  kinds  of  wild  flowers,  the  ancient  for- 
est trees,  the  passing  clouds,  the  twinkling  stars, 
and  even  the  stones — the  science  that  lay  behind 
all  of  these  was  tactfully  shown  and  under  the 
guise  of  pleasure  her  pupils  learned  the  secrets 
of  nature. 

This  highly  talented  woman  married  Brother 
John  Gambold  of  the  Cherokee  Mission,  and  in 
her  new  life  she  found  much  inspiration.  She 
loved  her  Indians  and  showed  as  much  ability  in 
developing  their  intelligence  as  in  training  the 
minds  of  wealthy  young  ladies.  When  she  was 
called  home''  in  1829,  there  was  a  great  sorrow  in 
the  Mission,  and  the  Cherokee  Indians  still  hold 
her  memory  green. 

A  great  friend  of  the  pupils  at  this  time,  was 
Daddy  Thomas,  letter-carrier  to  the  school.  The 
last  and  official  guide  to  the  village.  Every  one 
who  knew  him,  loved  him,  and  he  made  great 
friends  amongst  the  people  who,  hearing  the 
fame  of  Bethlehem  came  to  see  it,  and  thereby 
learned  to  love  it  He  selected  his  own  burial 
place  in  the  corner  of  the  old  graveyard,  where 
lie  the  village  forefathers  because  "he  wanted  the 
strangers  of  a  later  day  to  see  the  grave  of  old 
Daddy  Thomas,  who  had  been  guide  to  the  strang- 
ers of  his  time,  and  become  their  friend  after- 
ward.''  The  old  man  had  plenty  of  leisure  and 


154    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

would  accompany  the  school  girls  on  their  walks 
up  the  river  and  down  the  canal,  and  on  their 
picnics  to  the  Island.  Here  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  clumps  of  beautiful  rhododenron  with  its 
pink  bloom,  and  under  the  shade  of  trees  so  dense 
that  the  temperature  of  a  summer  day  was  ap- 
preciably lowered,  did  the  little  party  enjoy  its 
coffee,  and  cake  frequently  celebrating  love  feast, 
also  in  the  shady  grove.  If  a  sudden  shower 
came  up,  there  was  shelter  at  hand  in  the  hollow 
trunks  of  the  old  plane  trees,  one  of  which  was 
so  large  it  was  capable  of  holding  ten  people. 
There  were  various  aquatic  plants  growing  in  the 
river,  the  white  water  lily,  the  yellow  spatter- 
dock,  cata'  nine  tails,  and  here  the  tortoise  were 
to  be  found,  crawling  over  the  old  stumps  or  on 
the  lily  leaves. 

Again,  when  the  snow  carpeted  the  earth, 
would  he  take  the  girls  over  to  the  mountains  to 
gather  the  moss  and  greens  for  Christmas  deco- 
rations. Up  beyond  the  Old  Man's  Place,  a  lone- 
ly hut  on  the  mountain  side,  inhabited  by  a  her- 
mit-like old  squatter,  there  were  acres  of  laurel, 
which  was  used  for  years  and  years  as  holiday 
decorations  and  here  the  girls  and  Daddy  Thomas 
cut  basket  after  basket  to  weave  into  garlands. 

He  was  also  the  postman,  and  his  young 
friends  eagerly  watched  for  his  appearance  at 
their  gate  laden  with  the  mail,  the  delivery  of 
which  he  made  quite  a  ceremony  combined  with 


The  River  Road 


Some  Teaching  Sisters 


155 


gentle  teasing  which  elicited  gales  of  laughter, 
stilled  by  the  voice  of  authority  when  it  became 
boistrous.  As  old  age  crept  on  and  infirmities  de- 
veloped, Daddy  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  various 
duties,  one  by  one,  until  unable  to  take  the  vis- 
itors around,  he  retired  to  his  home  to  peacefully 
await  his  call.  When  he  finally  fell  asleep  in 
the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  he  was  laid  to  rest 
in  the  spot  he  had  selected,  on  Easter  Day. 

Daddy  Thomas  had  no  children  of  his  own,  but 
an  adopted  daughter,  Rachel  Schneller,  gave  him 
devoted  care. 

The  Rev.  George  Schneller  was  a  missionary  in 
the  West  Indies  and  when  he  died,  his  orphaned 
children,  George,  Charles  and  Rachel  were  sent 
back  to  Bethlehem.  Daddy  Thomas  went  down 
to  Philadelphia  to  meet  the  boat  when  it  arrived, 
and  "bought'^  Rachel  from  the  ship,  an  act  which 
constituted  adoption  in  those  days.  He  sent  her 
to  the  school  where  she  became  a  good  musician, 
and  an  expert  needle  worker.  Upon  the  death  of 
Sister  Thomas,  Rachel  went  to  live  with  Daddy 
Thomas,  and  gave  him  the  devotion  of  a  daughter 
until  he  "passed  on"  when  she  moved  to  the  Sis- 
ters' House.  Her  room  faced  the  north,  looking 
out  over  the  flower  garden  where  each  sister  had 
her  own  flower  bed  to  look  after,  and  was  reached 
by  the  stone  walk  leading  up  to  the  hooded  door, 
which  in  those  days  they  called  "the  Pfortchen/^ 
Rachel  was  a  small,  dark-eyed  woman,  with  very 


156    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

pleasant  manners.  She  used  to  give  sewing  les- 
sons to  little  girls,  in  her  room,  and  the  children 
always  turned  up  promptly  at  the  hours  "their 
auntie  Schneller/'  appointed.  There  was  always 
a  little  treat  after  the  lesson,  as  Sister  Eachel 
kept  apples  and  striissel  on  hand  for  sale,  and 
her  young  friends  were  rewarded  for  their  in- 
dustry with  a  taste  of  her  goodies.  She  re- 
hearsed them  in  their  church  music,  also  taking 
great  interest  in  the  children's  hymns.  One  verse 
she  had  them  singing  over  and  over — 

Tune  11. 

In  Thy  garden  here  below, 
Water  me  that  I  may  grow, 
And  when  grace  to  me  is  given, 
Then  transplant  me  into  heaven. 

This  she  loved,  and  the  children  did  too,  be- 
cause they  could  understand  the  imagery.  Some- 
times, when  the  little  girls  arrived,  they  would 
find  other  sisters  present ;  and  busied  with  their 
work  of  sewing  straw  baskets,  or  making  the 
fancy  paper  and  silk  boxes  which  sold  so  well. 
This  generally  meant  that  a  vesper  had  taken 
place,  and  therefore  there  was  an  ^^uherbleipseV 
(left  over)  for  the  children  which  was  heartily 
enjoyed. 

Another  inmate  of  the  Sisters'  House  at  this 
time  was  Mammy  Kitchelt  also  from  the  mission 
field  in  the  West  Indies,  and  widow  of  Brother 


The  grave  of  Daddy  Thomas  with  the 
Horsefield  House  in  the  background 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  157 

S.  G.  Kitchelt.  Her  home  was  near  Dresden,  in 
Saxony,  but  she  preferred  coming  to  Bethlehem, 
that  refuge  for  the  widows  and  orphaned  chil- 
dren of  missionaries.  Here  she  was  given  the 
position  of  bell-ringer.  Calling  the  children  to 
school  at  7 : 45  and  again  at  12 :  45 ;  announcing 
the  dinner  hour  at  11 : 30 ;  and  of  course  ringing 
for  all  the  church  services. 

Sister  Kitchelt  was  very  graceful  and  bowed 
beautifully  when  gi'eeting  you  on  the  street; 
which  was  supposed  to  come  from  bending  on 
the  bell-rope  so  constantly.  She  was  a  little  bit 
of  a  woman,  with  a  very  white  skin  but  no  rosy 
cheeks.  There  were  very  few  pink  cheeks  within 
those  old  stone  walls,  I  understand ;  the  life  was 
probably  too  secluded. 

The  "bell"  was  of  great  importance  in  Bethle- 
hem, for  it  ordered  the  lives  of  young  and  old,  and 
in  the  very  beginning  it  was  a  clock  also. 

The  first  bell  was  hung  on  July  6,  1742,  on  a 
tree  in  front  of  the  Gemein  Haus,  and  Joachim 
Senseman  was  the  ringer.  He  struck  the  hours, 
also,  beginning  at  5  a.  m.,  until  9  p.  m.,  when  the 
night  watch  was  set. 

In  1746  the  little  turret  of  the  Bell  House  was 
equipped  with  its  bell,  which  later  bestowed  its 
name  upon  the  building  in  popular  fancy,  or 
rather,  bells ;  for  the  first  was  an  outfit  of  three, 
which  struck  the  quarters  and  hours.  For  nearly 
thirty  years  these  were  used,  and  then  in  1776 


158    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

the  largest  one  was  recast  bj  Tommerup,  a  Dan- 
ish bell  founder,  who  lived  in  the  Brethren's 
House,  and  his  assistant,  Anthony  Smith.  Twice 
did  they  fail  in  the  cast,  and  then  the  sooty  Dane 
called  for  pure  silver  to  qualify  the  baser  metal 
or  Bethlehem  would  have  no  bell.  A  purse  of 
Spanish  silver  was  quickly  made  up,  and  handed 
to  him,  and  in  virtue  of  the  precious  metal  the 
third  cast  was  successful.  When  struck  the  bell 
sounded  A  with  the  ninth  as  a  resultant  harmonic 
tone,  and  in  this  way  it  sounds  to-day. 

A  rough  looking  bell ;  unpolished  it  has  naught 
to  commend  itself  to  notice  save  the  magic  figures 
"1776.''  Hung  in  the  little  belfry  over  which, 
flung  against  the  blue  sky,  the  golden  fleeced 
Lamb  of  the  church  points  to  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  it  was  rung  for  the  first  time  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  27th  day  of  July,  1776,  three 
weeks  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
given  to  the  world.  Eight  faithfully  has  it  given 
its  voice  to  the  world  for  all  these  years ;  yea,  for 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  years  and  it  is  quite 
fitting  that  the  wondrous  old  stone  pile  which  it 
crovrns  should  be  known  by  its  name. 

The  ringers  were  all  women  for  many  years. 
Sister  Molly  Isles,  the  first  one,  was  born  on  the 
island  of  Antigua,  West  Indies,  her  father  being 
the  pioneer  missionary  on  that  island.  Upon  his 
death  there,  she  retired  to  Bethlehem.  In  1813, 
the  bell  was  tolled  for  her,  and  Sister  Mary 


Some  Teaching  Sisters  159 


Fritsch  took  her  place.  The  widow  Kitchelt  took 
the  vacant  place  when  the  bell  once  more  tolled 
for  its  ringer  in  1820.  For  twenty-seven  years 
did  the  graceful  little  lady  bow  over  her  bell- 
rope,  and  then,  she  too,  was  laid  to  sleep  to  its 
voice.  Then  Widow  Buehler  in  '65  and  Widow 
Borhek  in  '68  were  its  ringers,  and  the  old  bell 
tolled  for  them.  And  also  for  the  assistant,  An- 
thony Smith,  did  the  bell  ring  out — but  not  for 
the  blonde  blue-eyed  Tommerup  himself,  for  he 
betook  himself  to  Nazareth,  and  his  bell  knew 
him  no  more. 

Widow  Boehler,  the  fourth  bell  ringer,  was  a 
happy  Maryland  girl,  who  bore  six  children  to 
her  husband.  She  lived  far  beyond  the  alloted 
three  score  years  and  ten,  and  even  four  score, 
the  years  totalling  89  in  fact,  and  her  long  life 
was  crowned  with  the  manifold  blessing  of  44 
great  grandchildren,  all  of  whom  she  knew. 

Surely  the  bell  tolled  for  her ! 

The  widow  Borhek,  m.  n.  Luckenbach,  daugh- 
ter of  Adam  Luckenbach,  was  the  next  bell  ringer. 
She  w^as  the  second  wife  of  old  Christel  Borhek, 
the  hatter.  Following  her  came  Widow  Fuehrer, 
Mommy  Fuehrer,  as  she  was  called.  The  Fueh- 
rers were  a  pioneer  family  of  the  town.  Away 
back  in  the  18th  century  before  the  bridge  was 
built,  old  Valentine  Fuehrer  was  the  ferryman, 
and  he  was  followed  by  his  son,  Frederick.  When 
the  bridge  put  the  ferry  out  of  business,  Frederick 


160    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

turned  farmer,  and  liis  son,  Joseph,  kept  up 
farming.  Joseph  married  Salome  Herwig,  and 
they  ran  the  farm  across  the  river,  living  in  the 
old  farm  house  which  was  formerly  the  Crown 
Inn.  Married  in  '29  she  was  widowed  in  '49,  and 
then  moved  over  the  river  again  to  the  old  home. 
As  "Chapel  servant"  she  took  care  of  the  old 
chapel  adjacent  to  the  Bell  House  for  twenty- 
seven  years  and  was  bell-ringer  for  sixteen  of 
those  years ;  and  custodian,  as  well  as  ringer — 
for  the  school  boys,  running  through  the  hall 
where  the  bell-rope  hung,  supposedly  for  a  drink 
of  water  from  the  Sisters'  pump,  would  give  the 
rope  a  pull  that  set  the  bell  a  clanging,  and  out 
would  come  the  irate  old  lady  with  fire  in  her 
eye.  Of  course  this  was  just  what  the  young 
imps  wanted,  and  safely  hidden  somewhere,  they 
would  thoroughly  enjoy  the  exasperation  ex- 
pressed by  the  legitimate  bell  ringer. 

Sisters  Bealer  and  Lelansky  followed  Mommy 
Fuehrer  for  a  short  time,  and  then  the  bell-rope 
was  given  into  the  strong  hands  of  the  janitor  of 
the  parochial  school. 

What  the  old  bell  thought  of  such  a  change, 
it  tried  to  say,  but  there  was  no  one  to  under- 
stand. Its  old  friends  and  confidantes  of  many 
years  had  gone,  and  the  iron  tongue  had  no  way 
of  reaching  them  except  through  the  vibrations  of 
that  ninth  harmonic  as  they  quivered  out  into 
endless  space. 


VIII 


Some  Widowed  Sistebs 


— ^ 

1 — 1 

1  0 

.,.J_.,! 
— 0 — 

— # 

— « 

168,  A 


J- 


t— T 


'Mid  the  trials  we  experience, 
May  we  not  give  way  to  fears, 


VIII 


Some  Widowed  Sisters 

HE  MORAVIANS  have  earned  a  special 


right  to  that  fine  old  missionary  hymn, 


"From  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains." 
When  its  strains  resound  through  the  majestic 
church  swelling  from  a  thousand  throats,  backed 
by  the  deep  diapason  of  the  organ,  and  the  blare 
of  the  trombones,  it  is  easy  to  picture  the  long 
line  of  devoted  men,  and  women  who  for  two 
hundred  years  have  joyfully  gone  forth  to  spread 
His  story  "from  pole  to  pole" ; — Greenland,  Tib- 
et, the  Indies — "earth's  remotest  nation"  called, 
and  was  answered. 

Answered  by  men  and  women:  for  it  was  al- 
w^ays  the  policy  of  the  church  to  send  a  married 
couple  on  missionary  work,  a  policy  which  has 
been  continued  on  account  of  its  splendid  results. 

The  church  has  been  more  than  fortunate  in 
the  remarkable  way  in  which  the  sisters  helped 
the  brethren  in  their  plans,  developed  the  work, 
and  made  life  bearable  under  conditions,  that, 
oftener  than  not,  were  simply  appalling. 

Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  these 
"church  mothers."  Living  often  in  great  priva- 
tion and  certainly  with  great  self-sacrifice,  they 


163 


164    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

preserved  their  happiness  and  peace  of  mind 
through  trials  without  number,  and  by  their  daily 
practice  of  the  Christianity  which  their  husbands 
preached. 

Homes  had  to  be  made  under  living  conditions 
entirely  new  and  strange,  and  that  home  had  to 
be  a  parsonage,  also,.  Perhaps  life  in  the  tropics 
w^as  easier  than  the  life  in  the  frozen  north,  for 
the  luxuriant  vegetation  made  the  food  supply  an 
easy  problem,  even  if  luxuriant  insect  life  was 
also  present,  but  it  was  attended  with  great  mor- 
tality on  account  of  pestilential  fevers. 

The  Moravian  Church  took  as  much  interest  in 
the  development  of  the  black  as  of  the  red  men, 
therefore  the  West  Indies  and  South  America 
offered  fruitful  fields  for  missionary  work,  and 
fine  was  the  response.  Many  families  of  to-day 
point  with  pride  to  two  or  three  generations  who 
have  served  in  the  mission  stations  of  the  Indies. 
Frederic  Martin,  Peter  Ricksecker,  Peter  Wolle, 
the  Reinkes,  Lichtenthaelers,  Klose,  Zorn — the 
list  is  much  too  long  to  complete,  but  they  were  a 
splendid  lot  of  men  and  women,  mutually  depend- 
ent upon  each  other  for  much  and  never  failing 
in  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  the  cause. 

And  when  the  wife  became  a  mother,  the  duties 
of  life  became  more  complex,  and  the  parsonage 
w^as  turned  into  a  nursery,  and  later,  a  school,  in 
which  she  taught  her  own  children  until  they  were 
old  enough  to  be  sent  back  to  the  States  to  one 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  165 


or  the  other  of  the  Moravian  schools  at  Lititz, 
Nazareth,  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  and  Salem, 
North  Carolina,  to  complete  their  education. 

So  the  self-sacrifice  was  extended  to  the  degree 
of  giving  up  her  children  and  placing  them  in  the 
care  of  the  Church  to  which  she  had  devoted 
her  life,  not  to  see  them  for  years  and  years. 

And  when,  as  so  often  happened,  she  had  to  lay 
her  husband  to  rest  in  his  long  last  sleep  in  the 
graveyard  of  the  mission  station,  then  she  too 
set  sail  for  the  States,  a  widow,  to  take  refuge  in 
one  of  the  choir  houses  for  widows  which  the 
Church  had  built  for  those  who  had  spent  their 
lives  in  the  service,  so  there  could  be  no  suffering 
or  poverty  in  their  old  age. 

In  the  very  beginning  of  the  settlement  in  Penn- 
sylvania, the  widows  lived  together  in  Nazareth, 
but  this  arrangement  was  soon  outgrown,  and  by 
1768  they  had  their  own  house  built  for  them  in 
Bethlehem.  They  were  allowed  to  choose  the  site, 
and  decided  upon  the  garden  slope  opposite  the 
old  Girls'  School,  or  Bell  House,  where  a  substan- 
tial stone  house  in  keeping  with  the  Sisters' 
House  was  promptly  erected. 

On  October  8,  1768,  the  Widows'  Choir  took 
their  last  communion  with  the  Nazareth  congre- 
gation, and  then  held  a  farewell  love  feast. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October 
12th,  the  widows  left  Nazareth  for  Bethlehem, 
where  they  went  directly  to  the  Sun  Inn.  Several 


166    'A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


of  the  brethren  welcomed  them  here  and  escorted 
them  to  Gemein  House,  while  a  hymn  of  greeting 
was  sung  from  the  belvedere  of  the  Brethrens' 
House.  At  two  o'clock  the  trombone  choir  on  the 
belfry,  announced  the  love  feast,  and  the  Widows' 
Choir  and  their  guests,  repaired  to  the  second 
floor  of  the  new  building  to  partake  of  the  love 
feast.  After  the  love  feast  the  guests  departed 
and  the  Widows'  Choir  only  retired  to  their 
chapel  where  Brother  Seidel  delivered  the  dedi- 
catory address,  and  introduced  Sister  von  Gam- 
mern  as  deaconess,  for  their  old  deaconess.  Sister 
Huber,  was  to  return  to  Nazareth  with  a  small 
number  who  preferred  to  live  there.  Eleven  re- 
mained, however,  to  occupy  the  new  house,  viz: 
Sisters  Bonn,  Refes,  Hertzor,  Hauser,  Liebisch, 
Schnall,  Leighton,  Prosky,  Kreinser,  Schropp 
and  Tannenberger,  and  the  Deaconess  von  Gam- 
mern,  who  was  the  twelfth. 

Gov.  Penn  was  the  first  visitor  of  distinction  to 
see  the  Widows'  House,  but  all  of  the  many 
prominent  people  who,  for  one  cause  or  another 
visited  Bethlehem  inspected  the  new  home. 

When  General  Washington  made  his  rounds, 
with  Bishop  Ettwein,  the  deaconess  received  him, 
and  after  his  inspection  of  the  house,  the  widows 
served  him  with  cake  and  wine.  The  brilliant 
Alexander  Hamilton  was  another  visitor  of  note, 
also  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  Samuel  Adams.  It 
was  Henry  Laurens,  the  great  friend  of  Bishop 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  167 


Ettwein  wlio  exempted  the  Widows'  House  from 
service  as  a  military  hospital. 

The  first  deaconess,  Juliana  Benedicta  von 
Gammern,  m.  n.  Mauersburg,  was  born  in  Silesia 
in  1717.  In  1751  she  was  married  to  Abraham 
von  Gammern,  of  Neusalz,  and  later  came  to  this 
country  with  him,  sailing  on  the  "Hope."  They 
went  to  the  North  Carolina  congregation  where 
the  von  Gammerns  made  influential  friends 
through  their  intelligence  and  ability.  After  the 
death  of  her  husband  she  came  to  Bethlehem,  be- 
coming the  efficient  deaconess  of  the  Widows' 
Choir,  and  lived  to  see  the  new  church  built  and 
occupied,  dying  in  1807. 

The  widow  of  Matthew  Schropp,  Ann  Maria 
Schropp  was  one  of  those  who  first  moved  into 
the  Widows  House  but  she  left  it  in  August  of 
1778,  to  marry  a  second  time. 

Like  the  single  sisters,  the  widows  had  their 
own  farm.  It  lay  east  of  what  is  now  New  Street, 
extending  to  the  end  of  Nisky  Hill,  and  up  to  the 
lane  now  called  Market  Street.  The  farmhouse 
was  on  the  ground  now  enclosed  as  the  pleasure 
grounds  of  the  seminary  and  the  big  barn  and 
stables  were  just  east  of  the  Widows'  House 
itself. 

In  the  very  beginning  the  widows  helped  with 
the  farm  work,  but  later  on  a  farmer  was  em- 
ployed for  them.  The  orchard  was  adjacent  to 
New  and  Lehigh  Streets,  and  the  old  flax  barn 


168    A  Century;  of  Moravian  Sisters 

stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  St.  Edmunds  Inn. 

Every  evening  after  milking  time,  there  was  a 
great  procession  of  sisters,  married,  single  and 
widows,  going  with  little  kettles  to  the  farm 
house  to  get  their  share  of  milk.  Those  fortunate 
enough  to  have  young  people,  children  or  grand- 
children, would  not  need  to  go  out  in  bad  weather 
on  this  errand,  but  it  was  a  pleasant  duty  in  the 
summer  time.  As  no  one  had  any  ice  in  those 
days,  milk  was  boiled  (sterilized)  to  prevent  sour- 
ing, and  then  kept  in  the  vast,  cool  cellars,  a  part 
of  which  was  apportioned  to  each  sister  as  her 
own. 

The  Widows'  House  had  its  own  cook,  of 
course,  and  the  best  known  was  probably  Gretel 
Opitz.  She  was  a  good-natured  old  soul,  who 
went  around  boiling  soap  for  people  when  she 
could  arrange  it,  for  she  was  active  in  spite  of  her 
enormous  weight  which  was  close  to  three  hun- 
dred pounds.  Gretel  also  found  time  to  make  the 
clay  chickens  for  Christmas  putzes,  in  fact,  she 
taught  Benel  Ettwein  how  to  make  them. 

Gretel  was  rather  a  lonely  woman,  and  delight- 
ed to  have  a  visitor.  A  little  girl  named  Char- 
lotte, and  a  daughfer  of  a  friend,  would  some- 
times go  to  see  Gretel  in  her  room  in  the  Widows' 
House,  and  being  a  talkative  little  thing  would 
stay  much  longer  than  she  was  supposed  to  visit, 
but  she  never  out-stayed  her  welcome,  for  Gretel 
hung  upon  every  word  the  child  uttered,  and  fed 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  169 


her  up  on  the  best  quince  preserves  to  entice  her 
to  remain  a  little  longer.  Needless  to  say,  little 
Charlotte  did  not  require  much  coaxing.  Gretel 
is  the  diminutive  of  Gretchen,  which  in  its  turn 
is  the  diminutive  of  Margaret,  a  name  which 
suggests  a  fair  and  stately  princess,  and  poor 
Gretel  was  not  only  short  and  fat  but  very  home- 
ly, with  protuding  eyes.  Behind  the  unpleasant 
exterior  there  was  a  very  genial  nature,  as  the 
widows  found  out  on  more  than  one  occasion. 

The  group  of  women  for  whom  Gretel  cooked 
was  a  very  remarkable  one.  Tragedy  and  comedy 
lived  side  by  side  under  that  roof  with  the  scales 
heavily  weighted  by  tragedy  in  the  earlier  days. 

One  of  the  most  pathetic  tales  of  pioneer  days  is 
that  of  Marianna  Hoeth,  daughter  of  Frederick 
and  Joanetta  Hoeth  from  the  Palatinate  who 
emigrated  to  Philadelphia  where  they  joined  the 
Moravian  Church.  Later  the  father  hearing  of 
the  fertile  lands  to  the  north  in  the  Indian  Coun- 
try, and  with  a  few  white  settlers  already  there, 
bought  a  tract  of  land  up  in  the  wilds  of  Monroe 
County,  across  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  moving 
up  there  with  his  family,  founded  quite  an  im- 
portant settlement  known  as  Wechquetank.  His 
farm  gave  him  comparative  comfort  and  plenty 
within  a  few  years,  he  established  a  grist  mill 
and  a  saw  mill,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  wagon- 
builder's  shop,  and  made  the  place  a  neighbor- 
hood center.  A  sturdy  pioneer  was  he,  and  just 


170    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

as  sturdy  were  his  wife  and  three  daughters,  liv- 
ing in  confidence  and  hope  on  their  cleared  land 
in  the  great  forest.  But  a  ghastly  fate  fell  upon 
them  in  December  of  1755,  a  fe\^  ;\reeks  after  the 
massacre  at  Gnadenhiitten.  The  little  settle- 
ment was  attacked  by  savage  Indians  and  burned 
to  the  ground.  Many  were  shot,  Hoeth  himself 
was  the  first  to  fall,  his  wife  soon  after  with  her 
youngest  daughter,  but  Marianna  was  not  shot, 
she  was  dragged  off  and  made  captive. 

Several  other  women  were  also  kidnapped  and 
their  dreadful  fate,  worse  than  death,  is  un- 
known. But  the  story  of  poor  3Iarianna  is 
known.  Her  brutal  captor  thrust  her  into  his 
wigwam  and  told  her  to  become  his  wife,  which 
however,  she  refused,  and  he  left  her  for  the  time 
being,  with  a  refinement  of  cruelty  that  was  truly 
devilish,  to  think  upon  her  awful  fate.  For  days 
he  waited,  peresecuting  her  in  numberless  ways, 
and  then,  finding  the  heroic  woman  indomitable, 
he  tortured  her.  Bound  with  leathern  thongs  he 
tied  her  to  a  stake,  and  threw  tomahawks  at  her 
head,  cleverly  missing  her  each  time.  At  last 
her  iron  will  broke  down.  The  terror,  the  horror, 
were  so  great,  that  she  submitted. 

For  four  years  she  lived  with  him,  dragged 
around  the  country  with  the  wandering  of  the 
tribe,  even  as  far  as  Pittsburgh.  Finally  she  es- 
caped, and  with  her  little  son  made  her  way  to 
Bethlehem,  a  haven  of  peace  to  her  poor  soul 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  171 


after  her  fearful  experience.  While  in  Bethle- 
hem, Marianna  had  her  boy  christened  by  Bishop 
Peter  Boehler,  giving  him  the  name  of  her 
father,  Frederick  Hoeth.  The  child  was  far  from 
strong,  consumption  developed,  that  dread 
scourge  of  those  early  days,  and  quickly  took  lit- 
tle Frederick  away. 

Whereupon  his  mother  united  with  the  Wid- 
ows' Choir  still  in  Nazareth  at  this  time,  1762. 

Therefore  Marianna  was  one  of  those  who  came 
to  Bethlehem  again  in  1768  to  occupy  the  new 
home  for  the  widows.  She  died  in  1772  at  the 
age  of  thirty-five — when  a  woman  is  in  her  prime, 
the  high  tide  of  life ;  but  Marianna,  broken  and 
sorrowing,  could  not  forget  those  four  years  of 
horror  in  the  forest. 

Sister  von  Gammern  was  deaconess  while 
Marianna  was  an  inmate  of  the  Widows'  House, 
but  the  burden  lay  heavily  upon  her,  and  Sister 
Werwing  was  called  down  from  Nazareth  to  take 
charge  of  the  choir,  so  it  was  she  who  was  head  of 
the  house  through  the  Eevolutionary  period,  and 
had  the  honor  of  entertaining  the  many  guests. 
Born  in  Baden,  she  was  a  daughter  of  Baron 
Christian  von  Raschan,  and  married  the  minister 
in  charge  of  the  congregation  at  Gnadenfrei  Sax- 
ony, Brother  Peter  Werwing.  He  departed  this 
life  at  an  early  age,  and  she  became  deaconess  of 
the  widows  in  Germany.  Upon  her  arrival  in 
this  country  she  took  up  the  same  work  here,  with 


172    A  Century  of  Mora\iaii  Sisters 

fine  results,  her  administration  proving  a  most 
capable  one.  When  she  too,  was  "called  home'^ 
she  had  been  a  widow  for  forty-seven  years,  help- 
ing other  widows  in  their  grief  to  make  some- 
thing of  their  lives. 

Also  contemporary  with  Marianna  Hoeth  waa 
the  widow  Parsons,  relict  of  that  strange  man, 
William  Parsons,  founder  of  Easton.  He  was 
English  by  birth,  with  intensely  strong  likes  and 
dislikes,  and  of  a  very  ambitious  nature,  appar- 
ently making  success  his  god.  He  worked  hard 
at  his  trade  in  early  youth,  studying  diligently  at 
night,  determined  to  get  on  in  the  world,  so  he 
may  be  called  one  of  the  first  of  Pennsylvania's 
self-made  men,  perhaps  the  first. 

He  married  Johanna  Christiana  Zeidig,  grand- 
daughter of  a  widely-known  Prussian  clergyman 
much  given  to  mysticism,  a  trait  which  reap- 
peared in  the  granddaughter.  So  here  was  a 
hard-headed,  prejudiced  man  of  affairs,  with  no 
time  for  religion,  married  to  a  woman  with  spir- 
itual longings  which  she  expressed  in  a  more  or 
less  morbid  manner,  and  who  experimented  with 
all  of  the  many  queer  sects  of  that  day.  Parsons 
had  no  patience  with  her  and  was  quite  harsh,  so 
she  finally  said  nothing  more  to  him  and  allowed 
herself  to  drift  away  from  contact  with  any  re- 
ligious body. 

But  the  coming  of  the  Moravians  to  Philadel- 
phia where  the  Parsons  were  living  gave  her  the 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  173 


opportunity  she  needed,  and  she  attended  all  of 
their  meetings  finding  that  in  their  doctrines 
which  truly  appealed  to  her.  Her  husband,  who 
hated  the  Germans,  was  furious  at  her  for  join- 
ing the  Moravians,  forbade  his  family  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  them,  and  when  his  wife  con- 
tinued her  attendance  at  their  meetings,  threat- 
ened to  leave  her  if  she  did  not  cease  all  communi- 
cation with  them  at  once.  Her  children,  too, 
loved  the  brethren,  and  the  little  family  kept  up 
its  attendance  in  spite  of  parental  opposition. 

Whereupon  Parsons  really  carried  out  his 
threat,  and  taking  his  two  youngest  daughters, 
Grace  and  Sallie,  departed  for  the  country  where 
he  secured  an  irreligious  woman  to  take  charge 
of  the  girls.  He  finally  took  up  his  residence  in 
the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  and  founded  Easton. 
Here  he  definitely  settled,  and  Grace  and  Sallie 
made  their  home  with  him.  Easton  was  as  much 
exposed  to  an  Indian  attack  as  was  Bethlehem, 
and  as  the  news  of  the  dreadful  massacres  to  the 
north  reached  Parsons,  he  was  fearful  of  their 
safety.  He  adopted  all  possible  measures  of  de- 
fence, and  sent  several  letters  to  Philadelphia 
begging  for  arms  and  amunition,  which  he 
lacked.  Finally,  in  desperation,  he  wrote  an  ur- 
gent appeal,  and  sent  it  to  Secretary  Peters  by 
no  less  a  messenger  than  his  daughter  Grace. 
He  chose  her  for  several  reasons,  chiefly,  of 


174    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

course,  to  have  her  in  a  place  of  greater  safety 
than  a  frontier  village. 

So  she  departed,  by  wagon  probably,  as  he 
speaks  of  trying  to  secure  such  a  vehicle,  and 
drove  down  the  Delaware  through  the  great  for- 
est, showing  all  the  courage  of  the  frontiers-wom- 
an and  the  fidelity  of  the  messenger.  The  fearless 
girl  reached  Philadelphia  in  safety,  and  delivered 
her  letter  to  the  secretary,  doubtless  an  aston- 
ished man  at  the  sex  of  the  bearer. 

After  the  execution  of  this  trust  she  went  to 
her  mother's  house,  and  there  remained,  never 
going  back  to  her  father. 

In  1757  she  and  her  sister,  Sallie,  who  had  also 
come  to  Philadelphia,  went  to  Bethlehem,  where 
they  entered  the  Sisters'  House.  An  older  sister 
of  theirs,  Molly,  had  lived  there  for  the  eight 
years  previous  to  her  marriage  to  a  Moravian 
minister,  so  they  felt  at  home  among  her  friends. 
Here  the  two  girls  lived  together,  working  for 
the  little  children. 

Just  at  this  time  their  father's  health  began  to 
fail,  and  with  the  Aveakening  of  the  body  there 
came  a  softening  of  the  spirit,  so  that  all  his  old 
animosity  toward  the  church  died  out,  and  he  be- 
came reconciled  to  the  fact  that  all  of  his  family 
had  become  Moravians.  Before  his  death  he  even 
sent  a  message  to  his  wife  regretting  that  he 
could  never  see  her  again,  and  saying  that  "her 
Saviour  was  now  his  Saviour,  and  he  could  die 


Some  Widowed  Sisters 


175 


in  peace/'  a  message  which  gave  his  wife  much 
joy.  Within  two  years,  Grace  married  one  of  the 
young  brethren,  Nicholas  Garrison,  Jr.,  son  of 
the  famous  sea  captain  of  the  ^^Irene"  and  "The 
Little  Strength.''  Nicholas,  Jr.,  was  a  seaman 
also,  a  "mariner"  he  called  himself,  but  also  had  a 
decided  talent  for  engraving;  his  copper  plates 
of  the  Moravian  settlements  were  very  accurate 
and  of  course  are  of  great  value  to-day.  He  and 
his  wife,  Grace,  moved  away  from  Bethlehem  and 
were  in  Philadelphia  at  the  time  of  the  approach 
of  the  British.  They  fled  the  city  then,  and  set- 
tled at  Beading,  Berks  County,  becoming  identi- 
fied with  the  Heidelberg  Congregation. 

Sally,  the  other  sister,  lived  in  the  Sisters' 
House  until  1766,  when  she  married  Timothy 
Horsefield,  Jr.  She  was  the  mother  of  three  sons, 
of  whom  William  married  Kebecca  Weiss,  daugh- 
ter of  Col.  Jacob  Weiss  who  founded  Weissport 
up  in  the  coal  regions.  The  Horsefield  home  was 
north  of  the  little  graveyard,  built  in  a  clearing 
on  what  is  now  Market  Street,  and  was  the  first 
store  of  the  community.  William  Horsefield  was 
also  storekeeper  at  Nazareth,  where  he  moved 
with  his  wife,  Kebecca. 

Sister  Horsefield,  always  a  true  Moravian  in 
spirit,  was  very  happy  in  her  home  life.  Her 
father's  acceptance  of  the  Saviour  had  made  her 
very  joyful  and  she  doubtless  wrote  much  of  it 
to  her  mother  in  Philadelphia,  for  the  mother 


176    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

finally  decided  to  reunite  with  her  daughter  and 
moved  to  Bethlehem,  entering  the  Widows'  House 
where  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  years  in  an  atmos- 
phere such  as  she  had  always  longed  for. 

In  1797  Sallie,  herself  a  widow,  entered  the 
Widows'  House.  Of  her  three  children,  one  had 
died,  William  and  his  family  were  in  Nazareth, 
and  Thomas,  the  youngest,  had  moved  to  England 
where  he  connected  with  the  East  India  Com- 
pany and  later  became  a  well-known  scientist  and 
author. 

So  she  was  practically  alone  in  her  last  years, 
except  for  the  comfort  and  happiness  which  came 
to  her  through  the  communcant  membership  of 
her  church. 

Women  who  lived  together  as  these  women  did 
had  an  unusual  opportunity  to  become  close 
friends ;  also  an  unusual  opportunity  to  be  any- 
thing hut  friends.  As  they  were  human,  quarrels 
and  enmities  did  creep  in,  in  spite  of  the  saintly 
atmosphere,  and  it  was  just  such  conditions  as 
these  that  the  deaconess  had  to  meet  and  correct, 
and  she  always  did  bring  the  sinners  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  their  faults. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  many  friendships. 
Living  in  the  house  under  Sister  Werwing  was 
Maria  Barbara  Nitschman,  m.  n.  Leinbach,  who 
twice  widowed,  became  a  close  friend  of  the  dea- 
coness, Sister  Maria,  was  first  married  to  Fred- 
erick Martin,  a  pioneer  missionary  to  the  West 


Some  Widowed  Sisters 


177 


Indies  and  who  died  on  the  island  of  St.  Thomas. 
She  later  married  the  widower,  Bishop  David 
Nitschman,  founder  of  Bethlehem,  and  for  eight- 
een years  was  able  to  be  to  him  a  Christian  wife. 
But  in  1772  he,  too,  departed  this  life,  leaving 
Sister  Maria  once  more  a  widow,  and  this  time 
she  remained  a  widow,  although  she  lived  until 
1810  in  which  year  this  faithful  daughter  of  the 
Church  passed  to  her  reward. 

She  lived  long  enough,  however,  to  welcome  to 
the  Widows'  House  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
members — Susanna  Zeisberger,  who,  as  has  been 
said  retired  there  after  the  death  of  her  husband 
in  1808.  Sister  Zeisberger,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Lecron,  was  born  at  Lancaster,  and  the  fam- 
ily afterward  moved  to  Lititz,  where  they  joined 
the  Moravian  Church,  and  where  she  married 
David  Zeisberger,  Bernhard  Adam  Grube  per- 
forming the  ceremony  in  the  stately  old  church, 
the  day  being  Whit-Monday.  On  the  12th  of  June 
they  set  out  on  horseback  for  the  Indian  country 
in  the  West.  The  savages  were  on  the  war  path 
that  summer,  and  so  great  were  the  dangers  after 
the  travelers  crossed  the  mountains  that  they 
took  refuge  in  a  small  settlement  near  Pitts- 
burgh, eventually  arriving  at  their  destinatiou 
under  a  guard  of  soldiers.  This  perilous  wedding 
trip  was  a  fit  perlude  to  the  dangers  the  bride 
had  to  face  once  established  at  the  mission. 
While  great  respect  and  admiration  were  felt  for 


178     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

the  intrepid  missionaries  there  were  those  who, 
under  smiling  faces  were  traitors.  They  were  on 
the  frontier  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians 
and  pledged  to  teach  the  beauty  of  peace  to  the 
red  men,  and  prevent  massacre.  With  maurad- 
ing  Indians  to  contend  with,  it  was  impossible 
and  great  were  the  perils  endured  even  before 
the  awful  tragedy  at  Gnadenhutten.  Previous 
to  the  massacres,  one  night  two  savages  invaded 
the  mission  house,  pretending  to  be  friendly. 
Sister  Senseman  was  spending  the  night  with 
SLster  Zeisberger  in  the  absence  of  their  hus- 
bands, and  of  Brother  Heckewelder  The  Indians 
said  a  hostile  war  party  was  coming,  and  induced 
the  women  to  get  out  of  bed  and  pack  up  their 
belongings  to  flee.  The  shivering  sisters  obeyed, 
but  the  savages  grew  tired  of  pla^dng  a  part, 
threw  off  all  disguise,  robbed  the  house  destroyed 
what  they  could  not  use,  and  forced  the  poor 
women  in  their  night  clothes  out  into  the  rain, 
into  a  canoe,  and  down  the  river.  Meanwhile 
another  party  had  made  prisoners  of  the  rest  of 
the  mission  families,  who  eventually  met  each 
other  in  the  camp  of  the  Indians,  and  in  a  few 
days  were  marched  away  a  captive  band  mourn- 
ing the  destruction  of  their  prosperous  mission. 
Permanent  camp  for  the  winter  was  established 
and  great  suffering  endured.  The  cold  was  in- 
tense, and  starvation  set  in.  "Many  a  time"  wrote 
Sister  Zeisberger  "the  (convert)  Indians  shared 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  179 


their  last  morsel  with  me,  for  many  a  time  I 
spent  eight  days  in  succession,  without  any  food 
of  my  own.'' 

With  the  break  up  of  winter  came  release  and 
they  were  conducted  to  Sandusky  by  two  half 
breeds,  some  on  horseback,  others  on  foot,  with 
the  two  babies  of  the  mission,  Johanna  Maria 
Heckewelder,  one  year  old,  and  Christian  David 
Senseman,  seven  months  old,  wrapped  in  blan- 
kets. And  so  they  made  their  escape  from  that 
place,  never  to  see  it  again. 

The  Christian  Indians  were  devoted  to  the  mis- 
sionaries and  as  Sister  Zeisberger  recorded,  did 
much  for  the  families.  When  David  Zeisberger 
lay  dying  great  was  their  grief  and  sorrow,  and 
they  surrounded  his  widow  with  sympathy  and 
prayers  upon  the  occasion  of  his  burial.  When 
she  left  there  forever  there  was  great  weeping, 
and  I  am  sure  her  past  perils  were  far  from  her 
heart,  as  she  bid  her  "brown  brethren"  farewell. 

The  home  in  the  Widows'  House  was  a  great 
comfort,  so  her  last  years  were  filled  with  peace, 
and  when  the  Heckewelders  came  nothing  more 
did  she  desire. 

Living  in  the  hous6  with  her  was  Sister  Maria 
Magdalena  Loskiel,  widow  of  Bishop  Loskiel, 
who,  through  her  husband,  knew  all  about  the 
work  of  the  Zeisbergers  in  Ohio,  and  later  at 
Fairfield,  Canada.  Bishop  Loskiel  had  made  an 
official  visit  to  these  mission  stations,  and  was  able 


180     A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

to  describe  in  detail  the  lives  of  the  women  ai7d 
their  splendid  efforts  to  teach  Christianity  to  the 
heathen.  Sister  Zeisberger  died  in  1824  and  Sis- 
ter Loskiel  in  1826.  They  lie  very  near  each 
other  in  the  old  graveyard,  with  Sister  Hecke- 
welder  close  by,  and  surrounded  by  fifty-six  con- 
verts of  the  race  to  which  the  missionaries  gave 
their  life  work. 

The  last  years  of  Sister  Zeisberger  saw  the  com- 
ing to  the  Widows'  Hall  of  Sister  Margaret 
Schnall,  (m.  n.  Hastings),  wddow  of  the  mission- 
ary in  charge  of  the  Indian  mission  at  Fairfield, 
Canada.  She  was  of  Irish  birth  and  very  pretty, 
and  possessed  the  quick  tongue  of  the  land  of  her 
birth,  together  with  the  sensitive  temperament 
and  strong  likes  and  dislikes. 

When  the  Fairfield  Mission  was  destroyed  in 
the  war  of  1812,  not  by  the  English,  but  by  our 
own  victorious  American  troops  who  ran  pell 
mell  through  the  little  place,  the  mission  build- 
ings were  burned  to  the  ground  and  everything 
in  them  was  lost.  The  Schnalls  retired  to  Beth- 
lehem and  much  sympathy  was  given  to  them, 
but  Sister  Schnall  had  suffered  one  loss  which 
could  not  be  replaced,  she  talked  about  it  con- 
stantly and  vindictively ;  blaming  it  on  the  com- 
manding general  whenever  she  opened  her 
mouth;  in  fact,  she  never  forgave  General  Har- 
rison for  burning  up  her  schnitz !   She  had  lived 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  181 


there  through  the  hardships  of  fifteen  years,  and 
this  was  her  grievance. 

The  Schnalls  had  three  daughters,  all  very 
pretty  girls  who  afterward  married  John  Lever- 
ing, John  C.  Jaeobson,  and  Doctor  Bagge,  of 
Salem,  North  Carolina. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  hall  from  Sister  Schnall 
lived  quite  a  different  type  of  woman,  little  Eliza 
Cist.  Eliza  was  not  the  widow  or  daughter  of  a 
minister,  and  why  she  was  living  in  the  Widows^ 
House  I  cannot  say,  but  there  she  was ;  and  for 
the  matter  of  fact,  she  still  is,  for  they  say  she 
haunts  her  old  room. 

Charles  Cist  and  his  family  moved  to  Bethle- 
hem from  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  Kussian,  and 
a  "printer  more  by  occupation  than  trade,''  his 
biographer  says,  very  highly  educated  and  of 
"wiry"  motions.  He  had  five  daughters,  of  whom 
Eliza  was  one.  They  were  very  social,  and  kept 
open  house  in  their  residence  at  Broad  and  New 
Streets,  and  Eliza  fixed  her  maiden  affections 
upon  a  young  man  who  came  there.  Consterna- 
tion followed  this  discovery,  as  the  match  was  not 
acceptable  to  the  Church  authorities,  and  so  was 
broken  off.  Eliza  had  no  backbone  whatever,  and 
calmly  accepted  her  fate.  Very  soon  her  parents 
died,  and  she  established  herself  in  the  "Widows' 
House,"  and  occupied  the  northeast  room  on  the 
second  floor. 

Eliza  was  a  little,  white  faced  thing  as  timid 


182    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

as  a  mouse  and  as  fleet.  She  wore  her  hair  in 
long  ringlets,  inside  a  Quaker  bonnet,  and  al- 
ways carried  a  jangling  bunch  of  keys.  She  was 
insatiably  curious  and  the  minute  the  front  door 
downstairs  banged,  would  run  through  the  hall 
her  keys  jangling  and  echoing,  and  peer  over  the 
banister  to  see  who  it  was.  Her  thin  white  face 
in  its  cavernous  bonnet,  the  drooping  ringlets  and 
huge  iron  keys,  made  a  ghostly  apparition  for 
anyone  climbing  those  dimly  lit  stairs. 

She  never  stayed  to  talk ;  but  after  one  good 
look,  heaved  a  sigh,  and  flitted  down  the  hall 
again,  sighing  all  the  time.  She  always  sighed, 
poor  thing,  and  still  sighs !  She  can  be  heard  any 
stormy  night  you  care  to  sit  in  her  old  room, 
when  she  comes  on  the  winds  of  the  storm,  and 
sighs  down  the  chimney !  The  sighs  echo,  and  re- 
echo, and  finally  die  away,  as  the  storm  picks  up 
Eliza  once  more  and  she  dirfts  away. 

So  this  is  the  story  of  the  Widows'  House 
Ghost. 

Another  tale  of  blighted  affection  that  came  to 
an  end  in  the  historic  old  house,  was  that  of  the 
talented  Lydia  Benzein,  daughter  of  a  distin- 
guished administrator  of  the  Church  in  Salem, 
North  Carolina.  Sister  Benzein  was  born  in 
Salem,  but  the  family  returned  to  Bethlehem  at 
a  later  date,  and  she  grew  up  in  that  town.  In 
the  course  of  time  the  rigid  rules  of  the  Brethren 
regarding  the  separation  of  the  sexes,  relaxed 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  183 


somewhat  and  young  people  were  allowed  a 
small  degree  of  intercourse.  Undoubtedly 
the  young  folks  themselves  had  something 
to  do  with  this,  to  them,  revolution,  seeing, 
as  they  did  the  constant  mingling  of  men  and 
women  amongst  the  visitors  to  the  village. 

Therefore  when  a  young  man  came  to  town, 
there  was  a  chance  of  his  meeting  some  of  the 
Moravian  sisters,  although  in  their  parents' 
homes. 

A  Yale  student  happened  here  after  the  Ben- 
zeins  were  established,  and  met  Lydia.  She  was 
tall  and  slender,  and  very  pretty,  although  ex- 
ceedingly quiet,  I  daresay  he  liked  timidity,  for 
he  fell  head  over  heels  in  love  with  her,  and  she 
with  him.  How  they  ever  got  a  chance  to  do  any 
courting  is  more  than  I  can  say,  probably  it  was 
more  an  idea  than  a  reality,  which  was  all  the 
better  in  the  end.  For  the  Board  of  Elders  heard 
of  the  proposed  engagement  and  were  horrified, 
because  the  young  man  was  not  a  Moravian. 
They  promptly  interfered,  through  her  father, 
w^ho  sent  the  young  man  away.  The  poor  fellow 
went  South,  and  by  and  by  died  of  consumption 
in  the  approved  manner  of  the  day  when  blasted 
hopes  were  concerned.  Lydia  remained  a  maiden 
always  tall  and  slender  to  the  last,  with  cheeks 
that  kept  a  touch  of  the  old  soft  pink. 

She  was  a  most  gifted  artist  in  water  colors, 
painting  the  most  exquisite  wreaths  and  sprays 


184    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

of  flowers  on  satin  or  paper  mottoes.  The  little 
circular  pieces  of  satin  or  paper  cut  to  fit  the 
back  of  a  watch,  and  decorated  with  flowers  and 
a  sentimental  motto,  were  very  popular  gifts,  and 
w^ere  decorated  by  her  hand.  The  work  is  inde- 
scribably dainty,  even  microscopic.  Her  nimble 
fingers  also  made  the  hair  flowers,  in  sprays  or 
wreaths,  and  these,  too,  were  beautifully  done. 
Much  of  her  work,  has  been  handed  down  in 
many  families  of  the  town,  becoming  valuable 
heirlooms. 

Sister  Lydia  occupied  the  rooms  in  the  Wid- 
ows' House  on  the  second  floor  northwest  corner, 
and  there  her  many  friends  would  always  find  her 
busy  at  work  but  happy  to  see  them.  Her  man- 
ners were  very  genial  and  pleasant  and  her  smile 
very  sweet.  The  old  Miksch  family  on  Wall 
Street  were  her  very  good  friends,  and  they  were 
often  together. 

Still  another  type  of  character  was  Anna  Ma- 
thilda Gr eider,  m.  n.  Levering.  This  old  sister 
only  lived  in  the  Widows'  House  for  a  few  months 
before  her  death,  for  her  twenty-six  years  of 
widowhood  were  spent  in  the  Moravian  Seminary 
for  young  ladies,  and  what  a  matron  she  was! 
I  am  sure  that  every  pupil  of  those  twenty-six 
years  remembers  Sister  Greider.  Tall  and  state- 
ly she  was  very  imposing  to  look  upon  and  with 
the  martial  mien  she  cultivated  she  was  some- 
times quite  terrifying.    Even  the  tramps  were 


Some  Widowed  Sisters 


185 


afraid  of  her,  and  gave  the  back  door  of  the  semi- 
nary a  wide  berth  during  her  incumbency.  Such 
energy  as  she  displayed !  Her  untiring  feet  were 
up  and  down  those  long  halls  until  it  was  said 
that  her  slippers  polished  the  boards !  And  her 
kitchen  was  a  marvel  of  efficient  administration, 
everything  (including  the  maids)  was  shining 
with  cleanliness.  Woe  betide  the  tradesmen  who 
sent  in  short  weight  to  her,  for  Sister  Greider 
always  found  it  out,  and  then  they  wished  they 
hadn't.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  order  was  filled 
in  a  way  that  pleased  her,  she  fed  the  errand 
boy,  who  was  usually  the  young  son  of  one  of  the 
Moravian  families,  with  buckwheat  cakes  which 
she  made  herself  for  breakfast  as  she  said  nobody 
else  could  make  them  as  well.  These  cakes  were 
as  big  as  a  dinner  plate  and  four  was  about  all 
even  a  healthy  boy  could  manage  to  eat.  The 
last  surviving  errand  boy,  now  a  very  old  man, 
has  the  most  delightful  recollection  of  his  "piece" 
from  Sister  Greider,  and  also  reports  her  as  a 
very  beautiful  woman. 

Her  hair  and  eyes  were  very  dark,  with  a  clear, 
fresh  skin  and  very  white  teeth.  She  always  wore 
a  black  silk  dress  on  Sundays  with  a  white  ker- 
chief and  so  arrayed  she  went  to  church,  which 
she  never  missed.  For  many  years  she  was  one 
of  the  sacristans,  serving  at  love  feast  with  great 
regularity. 

But  the  elders  broke  her  heart  when  they  pro- 


186    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

posed  putting  in  pews.  Heretofore  the  building 
had  only  wooden  benches  but  in  18G6  they  decided 
to  install  pews.  This  shocked  the  old  lady,  who 
was  a  great  lover  of  things  as  "they  always  had 
been/'  and  she  was  most  indignant.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  day  when  the  decision  was  to  be  made, 
she  was  approached  again  for  an  expression  of 
opinion,  but  conservative  to  the  end,  she  put  her 
arms  akimbo,  and  stamped  her  foot,  as  she  said 
^^Never !  I  was  born  on  the  benches,  and  I  will  die 
on  the  benches."  But  she  didn't  die  on  the  bench- 
es. She  died  in  her  bed  in  the  Widows'  House,  for 
when  her  health  failed  she  took  a  room  there. 
Dominant  as  ever,  she  tried  to  run  the  Seminary 
kitchen  from  her  bed,  and  was  anxious  to  know 
how  they  were  getting  on  with  canning  and  pre- 
serving in  her  absence. 

Strong  and  self-reliant  to  the  last,  she  fell 
asleep  at  twilight,  after  she  had  laid  her  spec- 
tacles on  one  side  and  announced  that  she  would 
never  need  them  again ! 

And  she  didn't.  For  when  she  awoke,  her  vis- 
ion was  clear. 

Another  sister  something  of  the  same  type  as 
Sister  Greider,  was  the  widow  of  Dr.  Eberhard 
Freytag,  Salome  Fetter.  She  was  the  third  wife 
of  the  worthy  doctor,  and  was  forty-one  years  old 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  so  there  was  some 
excuse  for  her  being  set  in  her  ways.  Her  work 
in  life  had  been  teaching;  for  twenty  years  she 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  187 


taught  in  Linden  Hall  and  at  Salem,  ten  years 
in  each,  and  while  that  was  a  privilege  that  gave 
her  a  highly  trained  mind  for  the  times,  it  also 
gave  her  a  manner  that  was  most  final  in  a  dis- 
cussion. In  fact  her  own  nephews  and  nieces 
were  afraid  of  her,  after  the  way  of  unthinking 
youth.  She  really  was  only  stern  on  the  exterior 
for  the  true  woman  was  a  very  spiritual  one,  as 
is  shown  very  plainly  in  her  autobiography. 

Short  and  stout,  the  dominant  old  lady  was  a 
decided  personality.  She  always  wore  under  her 
cap  a  black  "front" — an  artificial  hair  piece,  with. 
a  part  and  the  hair  severely  smoothed  down  from 
the  part — to  conceal  her  own  gray  hair,  and  no 
one  never  saw  this  front  out  of  place.  Every 
hair  was  always  exact.  The  wearing  of  this 
"front"  w^as  quite  a  common  custom  in  the  '50's. 

The  Freytags  lived  next  to  the  church,  in  the 
drug  store  property  and  the  doctor  and  his  wife 
were  very  close  companions.  She  came  to  know 
much  about  medicine,  through  her  keen  mental- 
ity, reading  his  books  and  going  with  him  on  his 
long  drives  back  into  the  country  through  the 
forest  roads,  when  she  would  gather  herbs  and 
simples. 

Beading  was  a  great  delight  to  her,  all  the 
books  and  papers  of  the  day  were  to  be  found  in 
Sister  Freytag's  rooms. 

When  her  widowhood  came  upon  her,  she  took 
up  her  old  needlework  with  great  energy.  She 


188    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

was  a  most  accomplished  needlewoman,  her 
stichery  was  so  fine  that  it  recalled  the  beautiful 
work  of  Kebecca  Langley.  Never  idle  for  a  min- 
ute, many  lovely  things  were  made  by  her  busy 
fingers. 

When  the  first  company  left  Bethlehem  for  the 
Civil  War,  they  carried  a  banner  embroidered  for 
them  by  Sister  Freytag.  The  presentation  of 
this  banner  took  place  in  front  of  the  old  Fetter's 
hotel,  down  in  the  ancient  part  of  town,  and  Gen- 
eral W.  E.  Doster  made  the  presentation  speech. 
He  made  the  references  to  the  old  lady  just  as 
flowery  as  he  could,  speaking  of  her  skill  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  and  giving  her  as 
many  compliments  as  he  could  think  of. 

Later,  when  it  was  all  reported  to  the  old  lady, 
she  listened  without  any  comment,  and  a  perfect- 
ly immovable  countenance  until  the  end  was 
reached,  and  then  remarked  in  a  disgusted  tone, 
'^Indeed !  and  so  he  told  how  old  I  am 

Her  two  great  friends,  Caroline  Bleck,  and 
Caroline  Brown,  were  seminary  teachers,  and 
every  Friday  after  school  in  the  afternoon,  they 
took  their  crochet  work  and  went  to  Sister  Frey- 
tag to  stay  for  supper.  The  missionary  Blue 
Book  was  always  read  aloud  on  these  occasions, 
and  Sister  Brown  would  give  them  a  bit  of  music. 
Sister  Bleck  was  a  devotee  of  the  art  of  painting; 
her  water  color  work  is  as  well-known  as  that  of 
Lydia  Benzein^  and  of  the  same  style.    Also  a 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  189 


very  fine  historian  she  made  a  great  success  of 
teaching  the  world's  history. 

The  Moravians  made  a  great  point  of  moral 
conduct.  "Is  it  right?''  was  always  the  test  ap- 
plied when  a  matter,  weighty  or  trivial,  came  up 
for  discussion,  and  they  were  very  rigid  in  its  ap- 
plication. The  Christian  virtues  were  instilled 
at  an  early  age,  and  were  never  supposed  to  lapse 
in  any  way.  In  fact,  the  board  of  elders  kept  a 
paternal  eye  upon  the  congregation,  male  and  fe- 
male, and  reminded  the  absent  minded  one  who 
was  guilty  of  a  lapse,  in  no  uncertain  terms. 
They  had  no  patience  with  vanity,  frivolity  or 
even  animation  because  these  traits  were  worldly, 
and  expected  every  one  to  adhere  closely  to  the 
rules  laid  down  for  Christian  conduct. 

Sister  Freytag  was  patterned  exactly  after  this 
ideal,  and  invariably  read  young  people  a  lecture 
upon  their  shortcomings  in  such  matters. 

As  old  age  came  upon  her,  she  secured  a  young 
sister  for  a  companion  and  caretaker.  This 
young  woman  was  of  a  naturally  gay  disposition 
and  rather  inclined  to  be  impatient,  so  many  were 
the  moral  lessons  Sister  Freytag  gave  her. 
Especially  did  she  criticise  the  fresh  young  voice 
w^hich  so  often  replied  to  her  pitched  in  too  high 
a  key.  Finding  her  remarks  unheeded,  she  took 
advantage  of  Valentine's  Day  to  administer  a  les- 
son in  a  more  attractive  way. 

On  the  morning  of  that  day  a  snow  white  mis- 


190   A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


sive  lay  upon  the  bureau  in  Sister  Amanda's 
room.  Eagerly  she  opened  this  unusual  letter, 
and  found,  a  valentine! — But  not  an  amorous 
one!  In  the  uncertain  handwriting  of  extreme 
age,  there  was  written  a  poem  entitled  "Speak 
Gently/'  and  her  eyes  scanned  the  following 
words : 

Speak  gently  I  It  is  better  far 

To  rule  by  Love,  than  fear — 
Speak  gently !  Let  not  harsh  words  mar 

The  good  we  might  do  here. 

Speak  gently !  Love  doth  whisper  low 

The  love  that  true  hearts  bind; 
And  gently  Friendship's  accents  flow 

Affection's  voice  is  kind. 

Speak  gently  to  the  little  child 

Its  love  be  sure  to  gain; 
Teach  it  in  accents  sweet  and  mild. 

It  may  not  long  remain. 

Speak  gently  to  the  young,  for  they 

Will  have  enough  to  bear — 
Pass  they  thru  life  as  best  they  may 

'Tis  full  of  anxious  care. 

Speak  gently  to  the  aged  one 

Grieve  not  that  care  worn  heart. 
The  sands  of  Life  are  nearly  run 

Let  such  in  peace  depart! 


Some  Widowed  Sisters  191 

Speak  gently,  kindly,  to  the  poor ; 

Let  no  harsh  tones  be  heard ; 
They  have  enough  they  must  endure 

Without  an  unkind  word. 

This  was  effectual.  Pleased  with  the  little  at- 
tention, Amanda  carefully  amended  her  man- 
ners, studied  the  little  verses  and  followed  their 
precepts,  and,  now  at  the  age  of  eight-six  gentle- 
ness is  her  chief  characteristic. 

One  of  the  best  known  women  of  the  middle 
century  was  Sister  Caroline  Zorn.  Noteworthy 
in  many  ways  her  personality  and  ability  gave 
her  distinction  in  any  assemblage.  She  had  the 
gift  for  friendship  and  attracted  people  of  high 
and  low  degree. 

The  daughter  of  Henry  Siewers,  a  missionary 
in  the  West  Indies,  she  came  to  Bethlehem  with 
her  widowed  mother  when  her  father  died,  and 
went  to  live  in  the  Widows'  House.  She  was 
only  a  young  girl,  gay  and  sprightly,  and  it  was 
a  hard  task  for  her  to  curb  her  youthful  spirits  to 
the  Bethlehem  standard  of  excellence  without 
gaiety.  She  rather  resented  being  held  in  check, 
but  with  truly  Christian  obedience  she  tried  to 
subdue  excessive  animation.  The  result  was  a 
charming  woman,  and  Jacob  Zorn  promptly  fell 
in  love  with  her.  Perhaps  she  welcomed  a  chance 
to  get  back  to  the  West  Indies,  for  she  married 
him  when  she  was  only  twenty-one,  and  they 
sailed  for  Jamaica,  where  he  was  in  the  mission 
service. 


192     A  Century  of  MoraAdan  Sisters 

But  it  was  her  fate  to  come  back  to  Bethlehem 
herself  with  two  children,  and  go  into  the  Wid- 
ows' House  as  her  mother  had  done.  Here  she 
devoted  herself  to  painting,  for  which  she  had  an 
unusual  gift.  The  little  landscapes  and  flower 
studies  she  painted  were  in  great  demand,  not 
only  amongst  the  Moravians,  but  among  the  peo- 
ple who  bv  this  time  had  settled  in  the  town.  The 
first  few  homes  on  Fountain  Hill  had  been  built 
at  this  period  bringing  new  families  with  their 
friends,  and  quite  a  different  atmosphere.  Mrs. 
Zorn  became  a  great  favorite  in  these  gayer  cir- 
cles, for  her  vivacity  never  deserted  her.  Her 
daughter  was  married  from  the  little  apartment 
in  the  W  idows'  House,  married  a  Moravian  min- 
ister, Eugene  Leibert,  and  she  too,  enjoyed  much 
local  fame  as  an  artist.  These  two  lived  to  cele- 
brate their  golden  wedding,  the  invitations  for 
which  were  decorated  with  an  engraving  of  the 
Widows'  House,  the  old  home  of  the  bride.  So 
if  memories  of  tragic  lives  cling  round  the  old 
stone  house,  it  was  its  romances  also.  In  fa'Ct, 
the  history  of  the  Moravian  Church  is  full  of  ro- 
mantic stories  of  bitter  persecution  and  heroic 
martyrdom,  of  lives  marked  by  less  dramatic  but 
equally  difficult  patient  endurance,  and  of  sim- 
ple Christian  virtues.  The  halo  of  all  this  must 
of  necessity  cling  round  the  past,  and  nowhere  is 
it  more  fittingly  defined  than  around  the  Widows' 
House  whose  mothers  and  daughters  have  always 
shown  the  purest  missionary  zeal. 


IX 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters 


!_L!  J 

157,  B.  1 

Hark,  a  Voice  from  yonder  manger, 
Soft  and  sweet,  doth  entreat, 


IX 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters 

THE  sisters  played  a  great  part  in  the 
Christmas  preparations  of  the  early  days. 
Their  various  little  business  enterprises 
were  of  just  the  nature  that  people  wanted  for 
gifts,  and  of  course  the  baking  of  cakes  and 
cookies  was  more  than  half  the  holiday  spirit,  so 
that  much  of  the  preparatory  work,  which  in  it- 
self is  pleasure,  centered  in  Church  Street. 

The  first  Christmas  in  Bethlehem  is  historic, 
and  famous.  The  second  Christmas  was  cele- 
brated in  the  chapel  of  the  Gemein  House,  with  a 
love  feast  at  11  p.  m.  on  Christmas  Eve,  lasting 
until  1  a.  m.  of  Christmas  Day.  In  1743  the 
Vigils  began  at  9  p.  m.  of  Christmas  Eve,  love 
feast  was  served  at  midnight  and  the  meeting 
came  to  a  close  at  2  a.  m.  This  service  is  notable 
for  the  first  use  of  an  orchestra,  stringed  instru- 
ments, flutes  and  French  horns.  The  Christmas 
Eve  Vigils  of  1744,  lasted  from  11  p.  m.  to  2  a.  m. 
and  it  is  recorded  that  the  children  were  present, 
and  gave  earnest  attention  to  the  entire  service. 
This  was  the  regular  program  observed  for  some 
years,  with  increasing  development  of  the  music. 
In  1750,  the  love  feast  for  the  children  was  held 
195 


196    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

at  6  p.  m.,  the  one  for  adults  at  9 : 30  p.  m.  on 
Christmas  Eve. 

The  year  1751,  was  somewhat  of  a  celebration 
because  Bethlehem  was  then  ten  years  old.  At 
the  service  for  adults,  several  Indians  were  pres- 
ent, and  one  of  them  afterwards  remarked,  that 
when  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  trumpets,  which 
were  used  in  the  liturgy,  he  felt  "as  if  Jesus  were 
coming  in  person  into  the  world."  The  rest  of 
the  night  was  spent  by  the  musicians  in  singing 
and  playing  around  the  little  village,  and  before 
the  rooms  in  the  choir  houses,  and  especially  did 
they  serenade  Brother  Michael  Miksch,  who  had 
charge  of  the  cattle  and  lived  near  the  stables, 
because  Jesus  was  born  in  a  stable.  The  next 
day  in  a  special  service  for  the  children  two  In- 
dian babies  were  baptized.  "In  order  to  thor- 
oughly impress  upon  the  children  the  helpless- 
ness of  the  Babe  Jesus,  after  the  baptism  these  in- 
fants were  shown  to  the  children,  bench  after 
bench,  rnd  the  remarks  of  the  children  on  the 
succeeding  day  showed  the  desired  effect  had  been 
produced." 

These  Christmas  exercises  were  held  in  the 
building  known  for  so  long  as  the  "Old  Chapel." 

In  1752  for  the  first  time  candles  were  distrib- 
uted in  the  children's  love  feast  at  7  p.  m.  Beau- 
tifully written  verses  were  given  to  the  children 
at  a  special  love  feast  on  the  morning  of  Christ- 
mas Day,  which  they  were  to  learn  by  heart  and 


Christinas  Among  the  Sisters  197 

be  able  to  recite  on  the  next  Christmas  Eve.  In 
1756  the  children  handed  in  verses  which  they 
themselves  had  composed  for  the  occasion.  In 
1758  some  of  the  children  accompanied  the  hymns 
on  violins.  Hereafter  the  services  were  much  the 
same,  time  varying,  and  with  music  of  special  in- 
terest on  different  occasions.  The  Christmas 
serenades  by  the  musicians,  in  different  parts  of 
town  continued  to  figure  occasionally,  but  in  1791 
there  was  an  interesting  record  in  the  old  diary, 
^^Those  children  who  had  the  smallpox  had  a 
separate  love  feast  on  Christmas  Eve  at  3  p.  m." 
This  dreaded  disease  was  a  scourge  in  the  early 
days,  but  it  was  not  allowed  to  interfere  with  the 
pleasure  of  the  children.  They  loved  the  choir 
of  children,  did  these  Moravians,  and  as  Christ- 
mas was  preeminently  a  festival  for  children, 
with  the  Christmas  Eve  love  feast  the  greatest 
service  of  all,  none  of  the  little  folks  were  for- 
gotten. 

In  those  days  of  musical  culture  in  Bethlehem, 
instruction  began  with  the  children,  and  natural- 
ly the  Christmas  services  afforded  the  best  op- 
portunity of  the  year  for  their  chorus  singing. 
For  several  weeks  beforehand  they  practiced 
under  the  leadership  of  Brother  Christian  Fred- 
erick Schaaf  who  lived  in  Bethlehem  until  1819 
as  deacon  of  the  choir  of  married  people.  He 
was  intensely  musical  and  was  given  charge  of 
the  church  music  in  addition  to  his  regular  func- 


198    A  Century  of  Mora\daii  Sisters 

tion.  It  was  he  who  led  the  children's  singing, 
standing  before  them  with  his  violin,  marking 
time  with  his  bow,  or  singing  with  them  over  the 
more  difficult  passages. 

His  small  pupils  adored  him.  He  was  a  most 
lovable  old  man,  of  great  simplicity,  a  quality  to 
which  children  quickly  respond. 

The  boy  or  girl  who  could  correctly  repeat  for 
him,  a  verse  of  a  hymn,  was  rewarded  by  a  "mint 
cake''  or  a  cooky  from  the  capacious  pocket,  and 
he  was  wont  to  ask  these  questions  at  the  most 
unexpected  times  and  places.  He  went  to  Salem 
from  Bethlehem,  and  there  he  quickly  made  for 
himself  the  same  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people 
winning  the  affectionate  diminutive  of  "Pappy" 
Schaaf  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Before  Pappy  Schaaf  left  for  Bethlehem,  there 
came  to  live  in  the  Sisters'  House  a  young  girl, 
who  belonged  to  the  choir  of  older  girls  at  the 
time  she  entered,  and  who  was  destined  to  live 
there  for  seventy  years.  Her  name  was  Nancy 
Kremser,  and  she  is  still  remembered  by  our  old- 
est people.  During  her  lifetime  she  was  so  well- 
known  that  her  name  was  really  a  household 
word.  Her  work  in  the  Sisters'  House  was  that 
of  sick  nurse,  this  office  carrying  with  it  the  po- 
sition of  undertaker  for  the  women  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

When  a  death  occurred  Sister  Nancy  would  im- 
mediately notify  the  minister,  who,  in  his  turn 


Christmas  Among  tlie  Sisters  199 


notified  the  leader  of  the  trombone  choir  and  as 
soon  as  possible  the  little  band  of  musicians 
would  be  on  the  steeple  to  announce  the  death. 
In  the  early  days  they  used  the  belfry  of  the  Bell 
House,  but  after  the  big  church  was  built,  they 
used  its  steeple. 

When  the  town  was  still  small,  this  announce- 
ment was  all  that  was  needed  to  convey  the  sad 
tidings,  for  as  every  one  knew  who  was  critically 
ill,  it  was  simple  indeed  to  know  who  had  "gone 
home,"  but  if  there  was  any  uncertainty  the  sec- 
ond tune  played  would  dispel  it,  for  that  one  al- 
ways denotes  the  "choir''  to  which  the  deceased 
belongs.  Three  chorales  are  played.  The  first 
one  refers  to  the  departed, 

"A  pilgrim  us  preceding, 

Departs  unto  his  home, 
The  final  summons  heeding 

Which  soon  to  all  must  come. 
O  joy !  the  chains  to  sever 

Which  burden  pilgrims  here. 
To  dwell  with  Christ  forever. 

Who  to  our  souls  is  dear." 

This  is  played  to  tune  151A,  the  Passion  Cho- 
rale, composed  in  1621  by  Hans  Leo  Hassler. 

The  second  one  is  the  "choir  chorale"  and  in 
the  case  of  the  single  sisters  is  tune  37A, 


"My  happy  lot  is  here 
The  Lamb  to  follow; 


200    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


Be  my  heart's  only  care 

Each  step  to  hallow. 
And  thus  await  the  time 

When  Christ,  my  Saviour, 
Will  call  me  home,  with  Him 

To  live  for  ever." 

The  chorale  for  the  married  sisters  is  tune  79A, 

^'His  plea  amid  deep  sighing, 
'Mid  bitter  tears  and  crying, 

'M.J  soul  with  peace  hath  blest. 
Be  this  my  consolation 
When,  thanks  to  his  salvation 
I  enter  into  lasting  rest." 

The  closing  chorale  is  for  the  living,  being  a 
prayer  for  help  when  our  end  comes  and  a  con- 
fession of  faith  in  our  salvation  through  His 
death, 

'TfOrd  when  I  am  departing 

Oh,  part  not  Thou  from  me. 
When  mortal  pangs  are  darting. 

Then  call  me  home  to  Thee ! 
Thy  death's  atoning  merit 

From  death  hath  set  me  free ; 
Thus  saved  I  shall  inherit 

Eternal  life  in  Thee." 

Of  course  the  other  choirs  of  the  congregation 
have  their  announcements,  also,  but  these,  with 
Tune  82D,  "Jesus  Makes  My  Heart  Rejoice"  for 
Uttle  girls,  and  Tune  149A,  "Lift  Thy  Heart,  Oh 


The  trombone  choir  on  the  steeple 


Christmas  Among  tlie  Sisters  201 

weary  SouF'  for  the  widows  were  for  the  feminine 
half  of  it. 

But  there  would  be  intervals  when  her  services 
as  nurse  would  not  be  required,  and  then  Sister 
Nancy  kept  busy  by  making  the  famous  Moravian 
hats  and  baskets. 

This  was  a  well-known  enterprise.  A  room 
was  set  aside  for  their  manufacture,  and  large 
quantities  were  shipped  to  the  West  Indies. 
They  were  plaited  by  hand,  patiently  and  care- 
fully, and  while  the  hats  are  of  course  worn  out 
long  ago,  many  of  the  baskets  still  survive,  and 
are  in  constant  use.  Bread  was  set  to  rise  in 
these  baskets,  shaped  like  a  shallow  bowl,  and  in 
the  Moravian  settlement  of  Schoeneck,  near  Naz- 
areth, they  are  still  used  for  that  purpose.  It  is 
said  that  rye  bread  is  especially  good  made  in 
them. 

This  business  in  which  Sister  Nancy  helped, 
when  all  was  well  in  the  community,  was  an  im- 
portant one,  but  her  fame  does  not  rest  upon  it, 
far  from  it ;  and  once  more  we  come  back  to  the 
children,  for  it  is  they  who  have  immortalized 
Sister  Nancy,  and  her  Christmas  cakes,  and 
"blackies." 

Boys  and  girls  of  three  generations  have  sung 
her  praises  and  eaten  her  goodies,  and  the  little 
heart-shaped  Christmas  cakes  filled  with  raisins 
and  spices  were  such  luscious  dainties  that  they 
became  part  of  the  Bethlehem  Christmas  celebra- 


202    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

tion.  All  through  the  Advent  season  their  spicy 
odors  stole  temptingly  forth  from  Sister  Nancy's 
windows,  tantalizing  the  children  who  haunted 
the  neighborhood  and  begged  to  run  her  errands. 
By  and  by  the  elders  began  to  haul  in  the  Christ- 
mas greens  from  the  woods,  and  the  aromatic 
balsam  fir  gave  forth  its  fragrance  to  mingle  with 
the  aggravating  scents  from  the  Sisters'  House 
until  the  memory  of  those  Christmas  days  is  a 
mosaic  of  smiling  sisters  making  wonderful 
things,  of  sturdy  brethren  dragging  evergreen 
trees  and  mosses,  and  of  locked  doors  behind 
which  wonderful  "putzes"  were  growing.  Of 
beeswax  candles  shining  radiantly  in  the  dimly 
lit  church  and  sending  up  their  faint  trails  of 
smoke  like  incense!  Of  a  green  garlanded  choir 
gallery  facing  a  large  picture  of  the  Holy  Fam- 
ily, and  the  sweet  melody  of  ^'Morning  Star" ! 

All  of  these  blissful  things  culminated  for  the 
children  when  they  set  their  teeth  in  Sister 
Nancy's  marzipan  hearts,  and  to  Bethlehem's 
"old  folks,"  the  children  of  that  day,  the  Christ- 
mas star  casts  a  heart-shaped  shadow. 

These  cakes  were  also  sent  as  gifts,  and  were 
so  much  appreciated,  that  when  Sister  Nancy's 
obituary  was  written,  the  cakes  were  spoken  of  as 
having  been  made  from  a  recipe  obtained  in 
Europe  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  her  rela- 
tives were  congratulated  upon  having  such  a  val- 
uable thing  pass  into  their  hands. 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters  203 


Sister  Kremser  Avas  carefully  nursed  during 
her  last  illness,  by  her  two  nieces.  Sister  Eose  and 
Sister  Walters,  whO'  also  lived  in  the  Sisters' 
House.  She  fell  asleep  on  the  morning  of  her 
eighty-third  birthday. 

The  "putz"  is  so  distinctive  of  a  Moravian 
Christmas  that  it  merits  a  special  word.  It  was, 
and  is,  an  elaborate  miniature  landscape  built 
under  and  around  the  Christmas  tree,  and  telling 
the  Christmas  story,  from  the  appearance  of  the 
angelic  choir  to  the  shepherds  where  they  were 
tending  their  sheep,  to  the  manger  with  its  Holy 
Family,  and  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi!  This 
was  brilliantly  lighted  with  the  beeswax  candles 
in  tin  holders,  and  was  in  practically  every  home 
in  little  Bethlehem,  in  greater  or  lesser  degree. 
Much  ingenuity  was  shown  and  beautiful  effects 
obtained.  The  modern  putz  is  the  same  thing, 
greatly  elaborated  with  electric  lighting  effects, 
painted  backgrounds  and  even  victrolas  hidden 
under  the  moss  and  playing  the  Christmas  songs^j^ 
Famous  putzes  of  that  day  were  those  of  John 
Krause,  John  Christian  Weber,  Philip  Boehler, 
Francis  Erwin,  and  H.  B.  Luckenbach. 

Every  one  was  glad  to  show  the  results  of  their 
labor,  so  "putz  parties"  became  popular.  They 
called  it  "going  to  see  the  putzes"  and  probably 
this  first  brought  the  boys  and  girls  together. 
Before  the  town  "opened  up"  in  1844,  the  sexes 
did  not  mingle  at  all  in  this  way,  but  after  that 


204    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


the  bars  were  let  down  somewhat,  and  although 
very  strict  rules  were  made  the  boys  did  go  out 
with  the  girls.  They  would  help  drive  the  cows 
home,  and  on  Sunday  go  to  see  the  wax  works  to- 
gether, and  walk  down  Bartow's  path  along  the 
canal,  for  wild  flowers.  But  the  putzes  provided 
the  entering  wedge. 

One  of  the  chief  decorations  of  the  putz,  was 
the  shepherd  scene,  and  plenty  of  white  sheep 
were  always  placed  upon  the  green  moss,  on  a 
miniature  hillside  or  in  a  tiny  meadow.  These 
sheep  were  also  made  in  the  Sisters'  House,  by 
one  Benigna  Ettwein,  familarly  known  as  Benel. 
Kindly,  big-hearted  Benel,  whose  fate  it  is  to 
bring  a  laugh  whenever  her  name  is  mentioned ! 
But  a  laugh  may  be  a  very  eloquent  epitaph  and 
so  it  is  for  her.  Benel's  sheep  were  wonderful  to 
behold !  They  were  shaped  out  of  clay,  then  cot- 
ton was  wrapped  around  them,  four  matches 
were  stuck  in  to  represent  legs,  and  a  splash  of 
Chinese  vermillion  was  daubed  on  the  end  where 
the  nose  belonged.  She  also  made  chickens  out 
of  tow  and  glued  real  chickens  feathers  on  them, 
and  both  chickens  and  sheep  appeared  on  the 
putzes  of  her  friends. 

These  toys  were  not  the  only  things  she  made. 
She  was  far  more  deft  in  making  fancy  boxes, 
used  as  work  boxes  or  candy  boxes.  These  she  cov- 
ered with  fine  colored  paper,  or  silk ;  occasionally 
a  tiny  mirror  w^ould  be  set  into  the  lid,  or  a  pin- 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters  205 


cushion  glued  on  top  of  the  lid.  She  made  con- 
stant uses  of  hand  painted  medallions,  contain- 
ing bouquets  of  flowers,  and  pasted  these  on  as  a 
finishing  touch.  Sister  Benzein  usually  painted 
them  for  her.  Some  of  these  boxes  when  used  for 
her  peppermints,  for  Sister  Benel's  chief  claim 
upon  posterity  is  that  she  was  the  first  one  to 
make  the  mint  cakes,  the  famous  Moravian  mint 
cakes,  for  sale ! 

But  these  were  only  side  issues.  Benel's  real 
business  was  mending.  She  was  the  tow^n- 
mender,  and  went  from  house  to  house  with  her 
bag  and  scissors.  A  day  a  week  with  each  of  her 
friends,  for  they  were  all  friends,  and  were  very 
dear  to  her.  This  peripatetic  life  gave  her  a 
great  opportunity  to  indulge  her  love  for  gossip. 
The  little  newspaper  of  the  town,  just  then  estab- 
lished and  called  ^^die  Biene''  (the  Bee)  was 
promptly  dubbed  Die  Benel,  because  it  was  only 
a  repetition,  of  Sister  Ettwein's  conversation. 
But  her  funny  mistakes  were  not  there,  her  queer 
distortions  of  speech ! 

Benel  lived  at  a  time  when  German  was  passing 
away  as  the  language  of  the  town  and  English 
was  considered  much  more  aristocratic.  She 
longed  to  use  it,  but  had  not  studied  it,  so  could 
only  literally  translate  German  into  English 
with  very  funny  results;  as,  Blut-freundschaft^ 
which  she  translated  bloody  relations!  (It 
means  "related  by  blood  ties.")  Numberless 


206    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

stories  of  this  kind  are  told  about  her.  One  of 
Benel's  great  diversions  was  funerals!  She 
never  missed  one,  and  spoke  of  the  comparative 
merits  with  great  unction,  dwelling  upon  the  de- 
tails for  years. 

J.  Fred  Wolle  (the  first)  was  a  great  friend  of 
Sister  Ettwein's.  She  went  to  the  Wolle  home 
once  a  week  to  darn  and  mend.  He  was  a  great 
tease,  and  she  always  looked  forward  to  her  day 
there,  because  of  the  joking  which  she  thoroughly 
enjoyed.  Brother  Wolle  was  very  fond  of  sour 
cream  dressing  on  his  lettuce,  and  Benel  saved 
all  she  got  and  carried  it  to  him  on  her  day  there, 
a  gift  to  which  he  looked  forward  with  much 
eagerness  he  told  her. 

She  gave  her  last  service  to  him,  because  it  was 
on  her  way  to  his  home  one  morning  that  she  was 
stricken  with  paralysis  and  died  soon  after. 

BenePs  little  fancy  boxes  were  very  popular 
as  Christmas  presents,  for  holiday  gifts  in  those 
days  were  very  simple  and  carried  the  real  spirit 
of  the  season  to  the  recipient  instead  of  the  in- 
trinsic value  of  the  article.  They  were  nearly  all 
home  made;  mittens,  pulse-warmers,  crotcheted 
tidies,  the  mottoes  and  bookmarkers,  and  Christ- 
mas cakes  and  puddings.  Occasionally  gifts  of 
money  placed  in  a  fancy  envelope,  elaborately 
printed  in  a  gold  and  silver  design,  or  with  tinted 
scrolls,  would  be  given,  but  when  this  was  done 
the  amount  was  a  small  one.    Gifts  were  a  sec- 


Christmas  Among  tlie  Sisters  207 


ondary  consideration,  merely  an  agreeable  ad- 
junct to  the  great  Church  Festival  of  Christmas. 

Living  in  the  Heckewelder  house  on  Cedar 
Street  at  this  time  was  Squire  Jacob  Wolle,  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  and  a  botanist  of  great  skill, 
whose  daughter  Augusta  had  a  magnificent  so- 
prano voice,  and  sang  in  the  church  choir.  At 
Christmas  time,  with  all  the  beautiful  music  then 
given,  she  was  in  her  element  and  her  exquisite 
singing  of  Stille  Nacht  (Holy  Night)  is  still 
spoken  of  with  great  pride.  Her  voice  was  not 
her  only  talent,  for  she  played  harp,  guitar  and 
piano  equally  well,  and  did  painting  in  water 
colors. 

Augusta  married  Brother  Holland,  and  with 
him  left  Bethlehem  to  take  up  the  educational 
work  of  the  Moravian  schools. 

The  occasion  of  her  marriage  was  long  remem- 
bered in  Bethlehem.  The  serenades  which  were 
so  popular  in  the  last  century  were  still  more  so 
in  this  one,  and  a  group  of  the  musicians  calling 
themselves  "the  serenaders''  never  missed  an  oc- 
casion to  go  out,  even  serenading  summer  visitors 
at  the  hotels,  when  no  other  cause  presented  it- 
self. 

Therefore  a  wedding,  and  the  wedding  of  such 
a  popular  and  talented  young  woman,  was  an  op- 
portunity which  they  loved,  and  prepared  for  this 
one  for  days. 

The  wedding  day  arrived,  and  with  it  a  storm. 


208    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

The  rain  came  down  in  sheets,  and  the  poor  musi- 
cians came  up  the  little  street  with  bedraggled 
hopes,  for  no  one  could  possibly  stand  outside  a 
house  and  serenade  in  that  downpour.  They 
went  into  the  home  of  Brother  Matthew  Crist  for 
refuge,  and  there  the  great  idea  came  to  them. 
They  would  serenade  at  any  rate  from  the  com- 
fort of  this  shelter !  So  they  opened  all  the  win- 
dows, "snuffed''  with  Brother  C.  F.  Beckel  from 
his  silver  snuff  box,  a  stately  courtesy  never  over- 
looked, and  tuned  up.  And  across  the  way,  be- 
tween the  blasts  of  the  wind  and  the  pelting  of 
the  rain,  the  bride  caught  snatches  of  her  wed- 
ding serenade. 

This  group  of  ardent  musicians  consisted  of 
the  brethren  C.  F.  Beckel,  Matthew  Crist,  Jede- 
diah  Weiss,  Ernest  Bleck,  and  Ernest  Lehman, 
the  latter  played  the  French  horn. 

Another  soprano  singer  of  a  later  date,  whose 
beautiful  voice  gave  much  joy  was  Mrs.  Phoebe 
Brown,  who  was  the  first  to  sing  "Morning  Star" 
at  the  Christmas  Eve  love  feast,  accompanied  in 
the  refrain  by  the  children. 

New  Year's  Eve  brought  a  pleasant  diversion 
in  the  shape  of  a  little  party  "between  services" ; 
the  early  one  of  7  p.  m.  at  which  was  read  the 
memorabilia,  a  record  of  the  important  events  of 
the  year,  and  the  later  "watch  service"  at  11 : 30. 
Families  and  friends  would  meet  to  chat,  the  men 
to  smoke  and  the  women  to  knit,  and  cakes  and 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters  209 


coffee  were  served.  The  guests  were  expected  to 
indulge  freely  in  coffee  in  order  to  keep  awake 
for  the  watch  service.  Little  rolls  of  paper,  neat- 
ly tied  with  dainty  ribbon,  were  handed  around. 
Upon  being  opened  they  were  found  to  contain 
beautifully  inscribed  Scriptural  texts  to  be  the 
guide  for  the  coming  year  of  the  person  who  drew 
them.  Many  of  these  little  gatherings  were  in 
the  Gemein  House  as  that  was  the  Congrega- 
tion House,  and  therefore  married  people  had 
rooms  in  it.  The  New  Year's  Eve  gathering  in 
the  rooms  of  Sister  Matthew  Eggert  was  a  happy 
party  of  three  generations ;  a  big  family  devoted 
to  each  other. 

Sister  Eggert  was  the  daughter  of  an  old  Kevo- 
lutionary  soldier,  Adam  Rupert,  one  of  the  Fifth 
Pennsylvania  line  under  Colonel  Hubley.  Born 
in  Lancaster,  she  later  lived  in  the  Sisters^  House 
in  Lititz,  in  which  town  she  met  and  married 
Matthew  Eggert,  warden  of  the  Brethrens' 
House. 

After  the  marriage  they  moved  to  Bethlehem, 
where  Matthew  established  the  fulling  mill  on 
Water  Street,  near  the  old  tannery  and  grist  mill. 
She  was  a  very  pretty  woman  with  dark  eyes 
which  have  come  down  to  her  great-grandchil- 
dren. Both  she  and  her  husband  were  very  ac- 
tive in  the  work  of  the  church  serving  as  head- 
sacristans  for  years.  It  was  the  sacristans  who 
served  the  love  feast  to  the  congregation,  the 


210    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


women  carrying  in  the  buns  in  large  flat  baskets, 
followed  by  the  men  bearing  the  mahogany  trays 
holding  the  mugs  of  coffee.  This  was  done  dur- 
ing the  singing  of  an  elaborate  piece  of  music  by 
the  choir. 

The  coffee  was  boiled  in  a  huge  copper  kettle 
in  the  basement  kitchen  of  the  church,  and  it  was 
the  duty  of  Sister  Eg- 
gert  to  oversee  the 
preparation  of  it.  Old 
Mommy  Kremser 
made  it  for  years  and 
years,  jealously  guard- 
ing her  privilege  of 
doing  so  and  becom- 
ing expert  in  the  prep- 
aration  of  the  fra- 
grant coffee  which 
men,  women  and  chil- 
dren drank  constant- 
ly. This  old  lady, 
who  was  the  daughter 
of  Henry  Beck,  a  Mo- 
r avian  minister  in 

Tii,MJii'       T      Ji.  SISTER  MATTHEW  EGGERT. 

Philadelphia,  lived  to 

be  eighty-nine  years  old,  and  was  the  mother  of 
^^Nancy''  Kremser. 

The  love  feast  cakes  of  that  day  were  shaped 
like  those  served  in  these  days,  but  had  brown 
sugar  and  butter  sprinkled  over  the  top  and 


Christmas  Among  tlie  Sisters  211 

browned  in  a  hot  oven  until  slightly  candied.  On 
the  festival  days  of  the  single  brethren  and  single 
sisters,  the  cakes  were  the  "sugar  bretzels"  made 
very  large  and  sugary ;  needless  to  say  these  love 
feasts  were  always  well  attended. 

Another  duty  of  Sister  Eggert  as  head  sacris- 
tan, was  the  preparation  of  the  water  for  bap- 
tism, and  the  care  of  the  handwrought  copper 
vessels  used  for  that  ceremony. 

Like  the  good  housekeepers  they  were  in  those 
days,  the  female  sacristans  looked  after  the  clean- 
ing of  the  church,  a  matter  which  Sister  Eggert 
personally  superintended,  in  fact,  she  was  really 
the  first  janitor,  and  commandeered  many  in  the 
neighborhood  to  help  her  at  different  times.  She 
was  very  particular  that  each  bench  be  pushed 
aside,  the  sweeping  properly  done  underneath, 
and  the  bench  replaced  in  exact  rows. 

Her  daughter  Pauline  married  Lewis  Doster, 
and  was  the  mother  of  a  large  family.  It  was 
Sister  Eggert's  great  happiness  to  go  to  her 
daughter's  home  every  day  and  keep  the  stock- 
ings darned  and  clothing  in  order  for  the  many 
children.  On  these  trips  she  always  carried  a 
basket,  holding  her  door  key,  her  snuff  box,  and 
the  two  handkerchiefs  for  the  ceremony  of  snuff- 
ing. 

At  night  she  would  return  to  her  own  rooms, 
accompanied  by  a  granddaughter  who  carried  a 


212    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


swinging  lantern  to  show  the  holes  in  the  uneven 
road. 

For  twenty-three  years  she  was  a  widow,  liv- 
ing, not  in  the  Widows'  House,  but  in  the  pleas- 
ant sunny  rooms  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
Gemein  House,  now  known  as  the  mission  rooms. 
It  was  here  that  she  gathered  her  big  family 
around  her  on  New  Year's  Eve,  and  gave  them  to 
eat  of  her  delicious  sugar  cake,  which  has  never 
been  equalled  since  then,  her  loyal  grandsons  say. 
Ordinarily  sugar  cake  depends  upon  a  plentiful 
supply  of  sugar  and  butter  for  its  success,  but 
Sister  Eggert  gave  it  the  delicious  flavor  of  rose 
water  in  addition. 

But  the  single  sisters  had  their  little  parties, 
too,  and  Sister  Sally  Horsefield,  a  member  of  a 
prominent  family  in  Bethlehem,  loved  to  enter- 
tain "her  folks."  Sister  Sally  was  a  very  tal- 
ented woman,  charming  in  every  way.  She  was 
the  granddaughter  of  old  Stephen  Benezet  of 
Philadelphia,  a  Hugenot  of  fortune  who  sought 
refuge  in  this  country.  Well-born,  he  possessed 
some  fine  family  plate,  which  he  buried  in  his  cel- 
lar during  the  occupation  of  Philadelphia  by  the 
British,  throwing  some  old  stove  plates  over  it 
for  additional  protection.  It  was  not  discovered, 
and  upon  his  death,  it  was  divided  among  his 
heirs,  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  married  Jos- 
eph Horsefield  of  Bethlehem  receiving  her  share. 
In  this  way,  Sister  Sally  Horsefield  had  some 


Cliristinas  Among  the  Sisters  213 

beautiful  family  pieces,  and  she  used  them  con- 
stantly not  only  on  high  days  and  holidays.  Her 
family  furniture  was  in  use,  solid  old  pieces  of 
mahogany,  and  she  also  had  a  piano,  for  she  was 
a  fine  musician.  Her  knowledge  of  Moravian 
hymns  was  remarkable  even  for  that  time,  and 
she  frequently  sang  them  for  her  visitors.  So 
music  doubtless  played  its  part  in  Sister  Sally's 
holiday  gatherings. 

Someone  at  that  time  had  set  Longfellow^s 
"Hymn  to  the  Moravian  Nuns  at  Bethlehem"  to 
music,  and  Sister  Sally  possessed  this  music, 
playing  it  often.  It  was  one  of  the  things  she 
loved  to  sing  for  her  friends,  and  it  is  a  great 
pity  that  the  music  has  been  lost.  The  poem, 
lovely  as  it  is,  is  incorrect,  because  of  the  wrong 
conception  of  the  Moravian  Sisterhood,  as  it 
never  was  a  nunnery  in  name  or  practice. 

At  that  time  there  grew  in  the  Sisters'  House 
flower  garden,  back  of  the  house,  not  in  the  or- 
chard on  the  Sisters'  Hill,  a  Christmas  apple  tree, 
bearing  in  great  profusion  the  little  lemon  col- 
ored apples  with  scarlet  splashes  on  their  cheeks. 
This  was  the  only  one  in  the  village,  and  its  fruit 
was  one  of  the  joys  of  the  Bethlehem  Christmas. 
Sister  Sally  was  the  deaconess  of  the  sisters,  and 
attended  to  the  distribution  of  the  dainty  little 
apples.  Undoubtedly  we  can  picture  one  of  her 
ancestral  silver  bowls  on  her  center  table,  piled 
high  with  spicy  brown  Christmas  cakes  and  the 


214    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

tiny  gay  apples  polished  until  they  reflected  the 
light. 

In  her  bedroom  she  had  a  large  lemon  tree 
growing  in  a  tub,  and  on  account  of  it  had  no  rug 
on  the  floor,  saying  "we  must  give  way  to  the 
fruits  and  the  flowers."  Her  flower  bed  was  in 
front  of  the  house  running  from  the  sundial  door 
to  the  eastern  door,  and  in  it  Sister  Sally  had 
beautiful  roses  and  tiger  lilies,  stately  and  gor- 
geous in  the  sunlight. 

The  children  called  her  the  Candy  Lady,  be- 
cause she  made  little  colored  candies,  and  would 
give  them  to  the  children,  whom  she  loved.  The 
little  children  were  often  to  be  found  in  her 
rooms,  for  she  was  easy  of  access  living  in  the 
southeast  corner,  first  floor,  and  here  she  would 
feed  them  candy  and  tell  them  stories. 

In  appearance  Sister  Sally  was  tall  and  thin, 
with  a  pleasant  face  of  the  brunette  type.  She 
always  wore  the  ruffled  lace  cap  which  succeeded 
the  plain  little  white  cap  called  the  "Schneppel- 
haube."  Some  of  the  Nazareth  sisters  objected 
to  wearing  this  and  desired  to  use  the  one  called 
the  English  cap,  a  hybrid  affair,  with  a  ruffle 
around  the  face.  So  they  quietly  made  up  their 
minds  to  do  so,  and  notified  the  church  fathers 
to  that  effect!  What  could  the  poor  men  do? 
"When  a  woman  Vvdll  she  will,  and  there's  an  end 
on't,"  even  for  a  Board  of  Elders.  This  larger 
affair  came  slowly  into  use,  with  its  ruffle  of  vary- 


Christmas  Among  the  Sisters  215 


ing  size  according  to  individual  liking;  but  it 
lacked  entirely  the  poetry  and  charm  of  the  first 


THE  EAST  GABLE  OP  THE  SISTERS'  HOUSE. 


cap,  with  its  neat  uniformity  and  chaste  white- 
ness, and  so  the  Moravian  sisters  voluntarily  gave 
up  their  most  distinctive  characteristic. 


X 

The  Sistees  of  '61 


1  J  iJ 

1  1  r. '  n  !  1 

82,1 

). 

f — ^ 

1  k 

it  ^  b  \t  : 

1  i  9  \t  /^=\ 

f  -g-  ,r  ■ 

m 

Jesus  E 
I'mH 

ll    1    1    l±=\^[  1   Ij   r  iH 

nakes  my  heart  rejoice, 

L3  sheep,  and  know  His  voice; 

X 


The  Sisters  of  '61 

**TN  '61  the  men  sprang  to  arms  and  the 
I  women  to  the  needle''  was  as  true  in  Beth- 
lehem as  everywhere  else  in  the  Union. 
Bethlehem  has  passed  through  all  of  the  wars  of 
the  United  states,  and  directly  or  indirectly  been 
connected  with  them,  and  Moravian  sisters  have 
ever  responded  loyally  to  the  need  of  their  coun- 
try. 

Just  as  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  has  its  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety  to-day,  so,  in  the  time  of 
the  Kevolution  it  had  its  "Council  of  Safety" 
with  John  Cadwalder  as  chairman. 

The  minutes  of  their  meeting  on  May  1,  1776, 
record  "that  the  Sisterhood  of  Bethlehem  hav- 
ing presented  this  board  with  a  quantity  of  linen 
rags,  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  may  be  wounded 
in  the  service  of  their  country,  Kesolved,  that  this 
instance  of  their  humanity  be  thankfully  ac- 
knowledged." 

The  Civil  War  did  not  threaten  Bethlehem  as 
did  the  Kevolution,  but  when  Sumter's  guns 
echoed  through  the  States  the  local  militia  tele- 
graphed an  instant  offer  of  service  to  the  Gover- 
nor of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
companies  out. 

219 


220    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Coincident  with  this  deed  of  the  men  was  the 
action  of  Sister  Frederica  Hueffel,  Deaconess  of 
the  Single  Sisters,  in  forming  a  society  among 
the  sisters  to  aid  the  soldiers.  On  the  twenty- 
third  of  October,  1861,  they  organized  as  the  Sol- 
diers' Belief  Association,  with  a  sum  in  their 
treasury  that  had  been  collected  by  a  visiting 
committee. 

By  January  of  1862  their  busy  fingers  had  com- 
pleted and  sent  to  Harrisburg  three  hundred 
pairs  of  socks,  and  later  accounts  show  the  pur- 
chase of  hospital  materials  made  up  into  shirts, 
etc.,  by  these  industrious  women  who  meanwhile 
did  their  own  cooking  and  raised  their  children. 

November  7,  1865,  they  changed  their  name  to 
'^Ladies'  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  of  Bethlehem,'' 
w^orking  for  the  emancipated  negroes,  and  after 
a  few  years  of  work  for  this  cause  they  took  up 
the  Home  Mission  work  of  the  Church  under  the 
name  of  the  Ladies'  Sewing  Society,  in  which 
form  it  exists  to-day. 

A  few  of  the  sisters  who  helped  Sister  Hueffel 
and  therefore  may  be  called  "charter  members" 
of  the  society,  were  Mrs.  H.  A.  Schutz  (m.n. 
Wolle),  Mrs.  Kobert  de  Schweinitz,  Mrs.  Eugene 
Freauff,  Mrs.  Morris  Jones,  and  Mrs.  John 
Schropp.  This  latter  designation  sounds  so  cold 
and  formal  that  I  will  immediately  give  you  the 
name  by  which  she  was  best  known  and  loved, 
"Grandmother  Schropp." 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


221 


It  was  at  this  time  they  began  making  the 
Moravian  rag  dolls  which  have  brought  joy  to  so 
many  children,  and  this  has  become  as  much  of  a 
business  in  these  modern  days  as  the  hats  or 
baskets  or  embroidery  were  in  the  old  days.  It 
is  certainly  a  gratification  to  feel  that  the  sisters 
of  to-day  are  keeping  up  the  traditions  of  indus- 
try which  have  been  handed  down  to  them  by  the 
old  sisters. 

The  first  dolls  were  not  so  very  different  from 
those  of  to-day,  except  for  their  hair  which  was 
rather  weird,  a  piece  of  black  silk  or  cloth  was 
smoothly  fitted  over  the  back  of  the  head  to  rep- 
resent hair,  and  then  the  cap  was  put  on. 

The  faces  were  painted  by  that  popular  and 
talented  artist,  Reuben  Luckenbach,  each  sister 
in  the  society  had  a  special  part  of  the  doll  to 
make,  and  all  were  finally  sewn  together. 

The  garments  were  an  exact  reproduction  of 
the  little  girls'  dress  of  that  day  even  to  the  pan- 
telettes,  and  the  plaid  gingham  gown  was  cov- 
ered with  a  white  apron,  the  inevitably  finish  to 
a  child's  costume. 

The  dolls  were  first  sold  in  1872,  the  records  of 
the  society  show  the  sale  of  a  doll  in  January  of 
that  year.  The  society  also  made  undergar- 
ments, and  men's  shirts  to  order,  nightcaps  and 
the  well-known  black  sun  bonnets,  which  were 
worn  by  so  many  of  the  old  sisters  when  at  work. 

Sister  Hueffel  was  a  woman  known  throughout 


222    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

the  entire  Church,  in  Germany,  England  and  the 
United  States.  Born  in  Saxony,  the  daughter  of 
that  splendid  man  Bishop  Christian  Hueffel,  she 
grew  up  in  the  midst  of  unusual  advantages,  and 
in  later  years  she  often  referred  with  the  deepest 
gratitude  to  the  Christian  training  received  from 
her  parents.  Born  in  1800  her  childhood  was 
cast  amid  years  when  disaster  upon  disaster 
swept  over  Germany.  But  the  perplexities  and 
troubles,  and  the  straitened  circumstances  served 
to  develop  the  spirit  even  of  the  child. 

She  often  told  stories  of  the  time  when  a  divi- 
sion of  the  French  army  lay  encamped  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Barby,  and  when  the  castle 
where  her  parents  lived  became  the  headquarters 
of  the  commanding  general  and  his  staff.  "God 
had  so  graciously  disposed  these  men  toward 
them''  she  was  wont  to  say,  "that  the  family  often 
severely  pressed  to  secure  the  necessaries  of  life, 
enjoyed  an  immunity  in  other  respects,  with 
which  none  around  them  were  favored.''  Several 
of  the  French  Marshals,  Bernadotte,  Berthier, 
and  Soult  among  others,  showed  great  kindness 
and  were  well-remembered  by  her.  Naturally 
these  famous  men  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
child,  and  that  her  memories  were  happy  ones  is 
much  to  their  credit. 

In  1818  her  father  received  a  call  to  America, 
and  the  family  arrived  in  Bethlehem  just  before 
Christmas.    Frederica  took  up  teaching  in  the 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


223 


seminary,  and  remained  there  until  1826  when 
she  removed  to  Lititz,  to  become  the  Deaconess  of 
the  Sisters^  House  there.  In  1837  she  took  up 
the  same  work  in  Salem,  and  remained  there  fif- 
teen years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  she  resigned, 
and  came  to  Bethlehem  on  account  of  failing 
health.  The  climate  in  the  North  was  helpful, 
and  when  she  recovered  she  again  took  up  the 
burden  of  her  work  as  Deaconess  of  the  Bethle- 
hem sisters.  She  was  also  at  the  head  of  the  Bi- 
ble class  for  women,  and  during  the  week  on 
Thursday  evenings,  gathered  around  her  a  group 
of  the  young  girls.  They  read  aloud  Emily  Jud- 
sons'  Travels  in  India,  and  ended  the  evening 
with  a  prayer  and  hymn. 

A  most  estimable  woman,  liberal  and  yet  con- 
servative, firm  and  energetic  she  had  an  intelli- 
gence that  was  masculine  in  its  strength.  She 
also  had  a  temper, — and  this  was  her  cross. 

Sister  Hueffel  had  a  very  fine  presence.  Tall 
and  majestic  she  was  always  well-dressed  but, 
really,  she  was  very  homely,  in  fact,  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  that  so  much  inner  grace  could 
have  such  a  hard  exterior.  She  had  heavy  hairy 
eyebrows,  and  a  moustache,  and  in  addition,  big, 
yellow  teeth,  but  fortunately,  seemed  quite  una- 
ware of  these  drawbacks.  Vanity  was  a  dread- 
ful sin,  at  any  rate,  and  any  evidence  of  it  was 
quickly  trampled  out;  which  made  life  much 
easier  for  the  homely  woman. 


224    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

Perhaps  it  was  Sister  HueffeFs  disfigurements 
which  made  her  the  object  of  much  teasing  by  a 
group  of  single  brethren  who  were  very  fond  of 
horse  play,  and  still  so  near  boyhood's  days  that 
they  considered  their  horse  play  smart.  Led  by 
Kichard  Miksch,  this  crowd  of  young  men  had 
lots  of  fun  in  the  village. 

Sister  Hueffel  loved  peace  and  quiet,  and  when 
these  young  men  discovered  that,  they  set  off  a 
small  cannon  underneath  her  window  whenever 
they  got  a  chance,  and  never  missed  their  can- 
nonade on  her  birthday.  It  annoyed  and  irri- 
tated her  very  much,  and  she  made  up  her  mind, 
one  day,  to  celebrate  her  next  birthday  in  the 
seclusion  of  Nazareth.  The  young  men  heard  of 
her  plans  and  made  theirs  accordingly.  The 
very  stage  which  carried  Sister  Hueffel  to  Naz- 
areth, carried  their  cannon,  secreted  under  the 
seat  she  sat  upon. 

Arrived  in  Nazareth,  she  retired  to  enjoy  a 
long  night  of  undisturbed  slumber,  but  in  the 
wee,  small  hours  she  was  aroused  by  the  familiar 
cannonade  beneath  her  windows!  Angry,  and 
yet  mystified,  she  went  to  the  window,  but  noth- 
ing was  visible.  The  darkness  of  night  covered 
the  sinners;  who  had  followed  by  wagon,  and 
carried  out  their  schemes.  Sister  Hueffel  never 
discovered  their  identity,  which  was  lucky  for 
them,  as  she  was  a  power  in  the  church,  and  could 
easily  have  set  the  machinery  of  wrath  in  motion. 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


225 


This,  with  other  like  performances,  was  char- 
acteristic of  much  that  went  on  in  village  life. 

In  the  same  hall  with  Sister  Hueffel  lived  a 
sister  who  enjoyed  no  small  degree  of  fame  in  her 
time,  Polly  Heckewelder,  the  only  unmarried 
daughter  of  John  Heckewelder,  who  moved  into 
the  Sisters'  House  upon  the  death  of  her  father. 

Here  she  literally  held  court  unto  the  end  of 
her  days. 

Born  at  the  Indian  Mission  station  in  Ohio, 
she  was  the  second  white  child  born  in  the  state, 
which  was  quite  a  distinction  in  those  days.  Con- 
nected with  the  prestige  of  her  father  this  singled 
her  out  for  attention  and  many  were  the  visits 
she  received  from  noted  men  and  women  of  her 
day,  who  had  heard  of  the  Heckewelder  family. 
By  profession  a  teacher,  she  was  obliged  to  give  it 
up  on  account  of  increasing  deafness,  and  as  this 
affliction  rapidly  became  worse  she  provided  her- 
self with  a  slate  by  means  of  which  she  carried  on 
communication  with  people.  She  always  said 
that  the  last  sound  she  heard  was  that  of  the 
trombones  announcing  a  death  from  the  belfry. 

She  loved  the  memories  of  the  life  amongst  the 
Indians,  and  read  every  thing  that  came  to  hand 
connected  with  the  Indians. 

An  Indian  "show"  came  to  Bethlehem  during 
her  old  age,  and  the  troupe  put  up  at  the  Sun  Inn 
of  which  James  Leibert,  that  fine  old  gentleman 
was  then  host.    He  went  down  to  the  Sisters' 


226    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

House  and  asked  Polly  to  come  up  to  the  Inn  and 
see  the  Indians,  and  have  dinner  with  them. 
With  great  delight  she  accompanied  him,  and 
spent  a  happy  hour  with  the  red  men.  This  gave 
her  much  to  talk  about  for  days  and  days.  She 
was  a  handsome  old  lady,  with  a  beautiful  pink 
and  white  skin  of  which  she  took  great  care,  never 
going  out  without  a  green  veil  arranged  over  her 
bonnet  to  protect  her  skin  from  the  sun.  In- 
doors she  wore  the  cap  with  a  huge  frill  that  suc- 
ceeded the  old  Schneppel-haube,  and  a  white  ker- 
chief. A  large  oil  painting  of  her  in  this  cos- 
tume is  hanging  in  the  Bethlehem  Archives,  pre- 
sented by  one  of  her  relatives.  The  name  Hecke- 
welder  has  died  out,  although  there  are  many  de- 
scendants of  her  two  married  sisters  living  in 
Bethlehem,  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 

Antedating  Polly  Heckewelder  in  the  Sisters' 
House  was  that  lovable  woman  Sister  Polly  Blum 
but  she  survived  Polly  Heckewelder  by  seven 
years. 

Mary  Catharine  was  her  baptismal  name. 
Born  at  Hope,  New  Jersey,  she  came  to  Bethle- 
hem to  school,  remained  to  teach  and  taught  for 
thirty-two  years  then  retired  and  lived  in  the  Sis- 
ters' House  until  her  death  at  the  age  of  ninety. 
She  was  a  relative  of  Jedediah  Weiss,  the  famous 
old  basso  about  whom  so  many  lovable  stories  are 
told,  and  aunt  and  great  aunt  to  so  many  young 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


227 


people  that  she  became  "Aunt  Polly"  to  every- 
body. 

As  a  young  woman  she  was  very  pretty  and  full 
of  the  joy  of  life.  The  older  girls  were  her 
charge,  and  they  adored  her,  for  she  knew  what 
to  see,  and  what  not  to  see !  Not  that  the  girls 
were  wild, — but  they  were  young,  and  held  in 
check  as  youth  was  under  that  early  Moravian 
regime,  it  was  a  great  privilege  for  them  to  live 
under  the  rule  of  a  sympathetic  sister. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  older  girls  to  keep  the 
various  water  buckets  in  the  Sisters'  House  filled, 
drawing  the  water  at  the  old  pump  on  the  green. 
This  was  done  twice  a  day,  two  girls  taking  the 
duty  each  day,  and  occasionally  it  was  a  source 
of  great  fun  for  them.  They  carefully  made  their 
plans,  and  when  the  time  came  sedately  walked 
out  of  the  house  with  their  buckets  on  their  arms, 
started  for  the  pump,  and  arranged  the  buckets 
in  a  row.  Then  one  girl  busily  pumped,  while 
the  other  made  a  breathless  dash  for  liberty !  In 
other  words,  for  a  race  around  the  house  and 
back  to  the  pump  again  through  the  Bell  House, 
and  to  do  this  without  being  discovered  by  any 
female  Paul  Pry  in  the  Sisters'  House.  Arrived 
safely  at  the  pump  again,  the  other  girl  tried  her 
luck  in  the  race.  This  was  quite  a  dare-devil  ex- 
ploit, and  was  accomplished  with  so  much  fearful 
delight  that  the  memory  of  it  lingered  in  the 
mind  of  an  old  sister  of  seventy,  Angelica  Leh- 


228    A  Century;  of  Moravian  Sisters 


man,  who  told  it  to  her  granddaughters,  as,  in 
her  old  age,  she  once  more  lived  within  sight  of 
the  pump. 

The  older  boys  kept  the  wood  boxes  of  the  sis- 
ters filled  with  kindling,  and  carried  the  wood 
into  the  house  in  heavy  burlap  bags  holding 
enough  to  fill  one  of  the  big  boxes  in  the  hall. 
The  prospective  owner  was  sure  to  examine  the 
bag  to  see  if  it  was  well-filled,  if  it  lacked  a  few 
sticks  the  boy  was  docked  a  penny,  for  the  sisters 
drove  good  bargains. 

Sister  Polly  was  frequently  asked  why  she  had 
never  married,  and  she  invariably  replied,  in  a 
pithy  phrase,  that  she  never  could  stand  seeing 
the  same  face  day  after  day  and  year  after  year ! 
So  she  dedicated  her  life  to  "her  girls''  teaching 
them  the  various  branches  necessary  for  an  edu- 
cation in  that  day,  through  the  week,  and  round- 
ing out  their  cultural  advantages  by  Sabbath 
Day  instruction  in  Sunday  School.  The  chil- 
dren and  older  girls  and  boys  attended  church  in 
a  body,  then,  under  charge  of  a  teacher,  and  Sis- 
ter Polly  always  took  her  beloved  girls.  They 
met  in  the  room  in  the  Sisters'  House  known  as 
the  older  girls'  room,  just  across  the  hall  from 
Sister  Polly's  own  room. 

As  Polly  grew  older  she,  too  became  deaf,  and 
like  many  deaf  people,  could  no  longer  control 
the  volume  of  her  voice.    So  in  church,  when  she 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


229 


desired  to  whisper,  she  would  talk  out  loud,  quite 
loud,  and  say  some  very  funny  things. 

It  was  impossible  to  stop  her,  so  people  had  to 
put  up  with  it,  though  it  certainly  imparted  a 
touch  of  levity  that  was  quite  incongruous. 

Aunt  Polly  was  a  tiny  woman  and  grew  aw- 
fully much  wrinkled  in  her  old  age.  She  wore 
one  of  the  "black  fronts''  to  hide  her  own  gray 
hair,  and  a  white  ruflBied  cap.  Her  handwriting 
was  exquisite,  as  clear  cut  as  a  steel  engraving. 

Contemporary  with  Sister  Polly,  but  a  con- 
trast in  every  way,  in  fact,  one  of  the  characters 
of  the  place,  was  Rosel  Peisert.  Cross  and  mas- 
culine, with  a  real  moustache,  Rosel  was  any- 
thing but  lovely.  She  was  scrub-woman  to  the 
Sisters'  House,  and  besides  this  labor,  roasted 
coffee  for  people.  The  school  boys  pestered  her 
out  of  her  wits  with  their  endless  teasing.  They 
never  missed  an  opportunity  to  pull  the  bell  rope 
and  Rosel  would  descend  upon  them  in  fury  shak- 
ing her  head  so  violently  that  the  ruffle  on  her  cap 
fluttered  and  bobbed.  She  stuttered,  and  so  her 
anger  was  hard  to  express,  which  made  it  all  the 
funnier  for  the  children  when  they  were  safely 
out  of  her  reach.  But  the  laugh  was  on  the  other 
side  when  she  managed  to  catch  one  of  them,  for 
Rosel  wore  slippers,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  use 
them  in  a  way  thdt  did  much  good. 

But  it  wasn't  only  the  little  boys  who  teased 
her!    Trust  that  crowd  of  young  brethren  to 


230    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

wMch  Eichard  Miksch  belonged  to  see  a  chance 
for  what  they  called  fun !  Xobody  was  safe  from 
them,  except,  perhaps  the  Board  of  Elders. 

One  night  Rosel  was  going  home  through  the 
graveyard.  It  was  very  dark  and  she  carried 
her  lighted  lantern.  Richard  Miksch  was  also 
on  his  way  home  through  the  graveyard,  and 
w^hen  he  saw  Rosel  he  promptly  said,  "  Good  eve- 
ning Rosel,  give  me  a  light  for  my  cigar." 

Rosel  obligingly  opened  her  lantern  to  give  the 
desired  light  and  he  quickly  blew  it  out !  Laugh? 
How  he  did  laugh.  Rosel  was  furious  for  she 
had  to  go  down  the  hill  in  the  dark,  and  she 
talked  aloud  all  the  way,  calling  him  names  far 
from  pretty,  snatches  of  which  came  back  to  him 
in  the  quiet  evening.  Her  life  was  a  long  and  a 
useful  one,  quite  typical  of  the  generation  in 
which  she  was  born,  for  she  gave  her  service  un- 
grudgingly and  without  question,  secure  in  the 
knowledge  that  "the  Lord  will  provide.'' 

A  niece  of  Rosel  was  Sister  Maria  Schultz,  and 
if  ever  two  relatives  were  absolutely  and  totally 
unlike  it  was  these  women.  Maria  was  ideally 
beautiful.  Soft  brown  hair,  worn  simply  parted 
and  drawn  down  over  the  ears,  large  brown  eyes, 
classic  features,  a  marvelous  skin,  with  a  tall, 
well-rounded  figure,  set  off  by  the  plain  dress  of 
the  Moravians,  which  was  an  added  distinction 
in  this  ease.  And  the  beauty  of  face  and  form 
was  only  the  outward  sign  of  the  grace  of  heart 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


231 


within.  The  charming  expression  at  once  at- 
tracted the  stranger  who  soon  found  it  a  reflec- 
tion of  the  lovable,  qualities  of  her  nature.  Her 
voice  was  gentle  and  soft,  and  her  sympathy  ever 
ready. 

Sister  Maria  gave  the  best  years  of  her  life  to 
nursing,  taking  the  position  of  sick  nurse  in  the 
seminary,  where  she  made  hosts  of  friends  for  all 
the  girls  adored  her. 

A  woman  as  beautiful  as  Maria  was  sure  to 
have  her  romance,  and  she  was  no  exception.  A 
young  doctor  from  Philadelphia  was  visiting  in 
Bethlehem  and  naturally  fell  head  over  ears  in 
love  with  the  beautiful  girl.  It  is  quite  certain 
that  Maria  returned  his  love,  but — nothing  hap- 
pened. He  went  away,  and  like  Liesel  Beckel  of 
a  hundred  years  before,  Maria  devoted  herself  to 
nursing  the  sick,  but  of  love  there  was  nothing 
more.  There  seemed  to  be  perfectly  friendly 
feeling  about  the  matter,  for  the  young  man's 
name  Theodore,  was  bestowed  in  baptism  upon 
her  nephew,  but  of  the  lover  himself  she  said 
nothing.  A  secret  in  those  days  was  well  kept, 
and  therefore  a  little  mystery  grew  up  around 
her  which  was  never  cleared  away,  and  Maria 
took  her  romance  to  her  grave  unsullied  by  the 
tongue  of  gossip. 

One  of  the  veteran  music  teachers  of  the  town, 
a  sister  of  Mrs.  Charles  F.  Beckel,  and  a  very  dig- 
nified and  precise  woman  was  Sister  Caroline 


232    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


Brown.  For  fifty-four  years  she  was  a  teacher 
of  the  piano  and  voice,  in  the  seminary,  at  first 
in  the  school,  and  later  the  pupils  came  to  her 
room  in  the  Sisters'  House  for  their  instruction. 
A  good  lesson  meant  a  reward  of  ^^honey  cakes" 
from  Sister  Caroline's  glass  jar,  which  she  kept 
well-filled  for  hungry  girls  and  boys,  and  a  spe- 
cial reward  was  one  of  the  delicious  filled  dough- 
nuts which  she  often  made. 

Sister  B.rown  was  a  staunch  upholder  of  the 
old  school  music  consistently  teaching  only  the 
best.  Dance  music  was  not  allowed  in  Bethle- 
hem, the  nearest  thing  to  it  being  the  stately 
minuet,  and  it  is  quite  certain  that  Sister  Brown's 
pupils  could  not  hoodwink  her  as  was  done  on 
one  occasion  in  the  Brethren's  House. 

The  story  goes  that  the  Deacon  of  the  Breth- 
ren's. House  heard  practicing  going  on,  with  a 
suspiciously  lively  tempo.  He  immediately 
looked  into  the  matter,  and  was  shown,  with  a 
virtuous  air,  the  title  of  "minuet."  This  satis- 
fied him  and  he  went  away.  In  reality  it  was 
dance  music  that  had  been  secured  elsewhere,  be- 
cause the  young  brethren  were  eager  for  some- 
thing new,  and  they  continued  their  practice  of 
it.  Not  until  1850  was  dance  music  openly 
played  in  Bethlehem,  and  then  it  was  made  pos- 
sible by  the  summer  people  at  the  hotels  who 
wanted  their  hops,  for  by  this  time  Bethlehem 
had  become  a  summer  resort,  the  city  dwellers 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


233 


finding  its  hills  and  dales,  the  placid  river  and 
beautiful  islands,  most  charming.  The  old 
Quaker  families  of  Philadelphia  were  especially 
fond  of  Bethlehem,  as  they  had  much  in  common 
with  the  people. 

The  Moravians  were  a  bit  exclusive,  however, 
old  habits  were  hard  to  shake  off;  nevertheless 
there  were  certain  families  who  made  welcome 
the  strangers  in  their  midst,  especially  those  who 
entered  through  the  portals  of  the  church. 

One  of  the  new  families  to  join  the  church  at 
this  time  was  the  Morris  Jones  family,  of  Welsh 
birth,  who  settled  in  the  little  Schultz  cottage 
near  old  Squire  Horsefield's  house  on  Market 
Street. 

Dr.  Jones  was  lame,  but  he  gpt  around  in  a  re- 
markably lively  way  on  crutches.  "Fritz''  Wolle, 
and  he  were  great  friends,  and  he  spent  hours  in 
the  Wolle  store  at  Main  and  Market  Streets, 
driven  from  home,  alas,  by  the  sharp  tongue  of 
Mrs.  Jones  who  was  a  reincarnation  of  Xantippe ! 

Miss  Connolly  a  great  friend  of  the  Jones  fam- 
ily, was  one  of  Bethlehem's  best  loved  old  ladies. 
Born  in  Philadelphia  in  1792,  she  came  to  Beth- 
lehem in  1813,  to  visit  her  friend  Ann  Jones,  and 
loved  the  quiet  village  so  much  that  she  remained 
for  the  rest  of  her  life.  She  lived  in  the  "cottage" 
at  the  corner  of  Cedar  and  Market  Streets  for 
many  years,  an  old  plaster  house  brought  over 
from  the  Indian  village  of  Nain,  set  back  a  bit 


234    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


from  the  street  with  a  sma'll  fenced  in  garden  in 
front.  Lillies  of  the  valley  grew  in  great  pro- 
fusion in  the  small  enclosijre,  so  her  friends  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  walked  through  dainty  grace 
and  fragrance  to  mount  her  high  stoop. 

Miss  Connolly  was  a  great  lover  of  books,  and 
all  that  was  good  in  life,  and  her  friendship  was  a 
rare  treat  therefor.  A  true  Christian,  she  was  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Moravian  Church  and 
worker  in  missionary  causes. 

Across  the  little  street  from  Miss  Connolly's 
cottage  was  the  Matthew  Krause  homestead. 
Sister  Krause  was  an  Eggert,  and  a  great  friend 
of  hers  was  Anna  Steip  who  spent  many  a  happy 
hour  in  the  Krause  home. 

Sister  Steip  was  descended  from  pioneer  Mo- 
ravians who  settled  in  Philadelphia  and  became 
identified  with  Bethlehem  life  after  the  marriage 
of  Sister  Anna's  mother  to  Samuel  Steip. 

For  many  years  Sister  Steip  lived  across  the 
hall  from  Polly  Blum  in  the  corner  room  once 
known  as  the  grosser  Madchen  stuhe/'  or  older 
girls'  room. 

Well  educated  and  with  a  lovable  disposition 
she  was  always  welcome  in  her  friends'  homes 
and  she  did  a  great  deal  of  visiting.  She  was  con- 
stantly on  the  go,  seeing  certain  ones  like  "Muna" 
Lehman  daily,  also  Caroline  Bleck,  the  Krauses 
and  the  Schropp  family,  who  were  related;  in 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


235 


fact,  her  friendships  were  the  crowning  glory  of 
her  life. 

Her  black  costume,  full  skirt  and  plain  waist, 
with  a  black  lace  cap  and  lavender  strings,  was 
a  familiar  sight  to  old  and  young,  for  its  sombre- 
ness  did  not  frighten  away  the  little  folks.  They 
loved  her  for  her  pleasantry  and  happiness. 

Her  old  age  was  fresh  and  vigorous  and  it  was 
a  stroke  at  last  that  laid  her  low.  She  was  ap- 
parently near  her  end  and  her  speech  had  become 
unintelligible,  but  she  was  evidently  greatly  trou- 
bled by  something  which  she  tried  to  communi- 
cate. They  could  not  understand  and  her  anxiety 
became  so  great  that  she  struggled  to  utter  desire. 
They  finally  caught  the  name  "Carrie"  and  im- 
mediately sent  for  a  cousin  of  that  name,  who 
came  with  fear  and  trembling  that  she  would  be 
unable  to  understand  and  so  relieve  the  burdened 
mind  of  the  old  lady. 

But  she  did  understand ;  and  this  was  the  con- 
fession coming  almost  out  of  the  grave, — "I  owe 
Pappy  Yost  four  cents." 

Conscientious,  and  strictly  honest  to  the  last ! 

These  old  ladies  dealt  in  pennies,  and  Pappy 
Yost's  little  box  of  a  store  quite  near,  did  a  thriv- 
ing business  on  the  copper  basis.  Everything  im- 
aginable was  to  be  had  in  this  tiny  shop,  once  an 
old  cow  stable  and  every  thing  was  doled  out  in 
penny  sales  if  desired.  Needles,  pins,  thread,  all 
groceries,  butter  and  eggs,  dried  beef  of  the  best 


236    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

quality,  cut  in  thinner  slices  than  any  one  else 
has  cut  it  before  or  since.  Slicing  this  dried  beef 
was  Pappy  Yost's  great  pride,  it  fell  under  his 
knife  like  tissue  paper.  The  old  man  always  ate 
a  piece  while  he  cut  it  in  a  very  deliberate  man- 
ner, his  jaws  keeping  time  with  his  knife,  giving 
the  effect  of  chewing  a  cud  like  the  original  in- 
habitants of  his  store,  the  cows.  Probably  this 
was  because  he  had  no  teeth;  and  perhaps  his 
boil  had  something  to  do  with  it,  for  there  was  a 
chronic  i)urple  boil  about  as  big  as  a  chestnut  on 
one  lip.  This  he  caressed  with  his  tongue,  or 
with  his  good  lip,  constantly,  and  it  was  an  ob- 
ject of  fearful  fascination  to  all  beholders. 
United  with  a  game  leg,  all  of  these  afflictions 
made  the  old  storekeeper  a  law  unto  himself,  and 
he  ran  his  little  business  in  his  own  way,  which 
the  sisters  understood  perfectly.  He  in  his  turn, 
had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  domestic  econ- 
omy of  coppers  and  nickles,  and  they  got  along 
amazingly  well. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  hall  from  Sister  Steip, 
just  where  the  three  little  steps  go  down  to  the 
old  room  of  the  deaconess,  was  Mary  Ann  Eiede- 
man,  whose  name  recalls  a  host  of  associations. 
She  was  a  fine  product  of  that  old  Moravian  cus- 
tom of  taking  orphans,  or  other  children,  into  a 
private  family,  and  raising  them  as  one  of  the 
family. 

Mary  Ann  was  orphaned  at  a  very  early  age, 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


237 


and  Mrs.  Lewis  David  de  Schweinitz,  took  her  in, 
gave  her  the  Moravian  education  of  the  day  and 
taught  her  housekeeping.  She  vs^as  of  great  help 
to  the  de  Schweinitz  and  Goepp  families,  develop- 
ing into  a  capable  woman  who  was  ready  to  take 
hold  of  things  in  trouble  or  sickness.  Every  man, 
woman  or  child  who  needed  help  called  upon 
Mary  Ann  Kiedeman  for  it  and  was  never  disap- 
pointed. She  was  a  complete  charity  organiza- 
tion in  herself,  never  tiring  in  doing  good.  "She 
had  the  best  heart  and  the  sweetest  face"  is  the 
way  she  was  recently  spoken  of,  by  one,  who  as  a 
little  girl,  frequently  visited  her. 

Occasionally  this  little  girl  crawled  under 
Mary  Ann's  sofa,  from  fright.  This  was  when 
the  door  opened,  and  the  cross  face  of  Peggy  Ful- 
ton peeped  in,  and  demanded  to  know  who  was 
visiting  Mary  Ann!  For  Peggy  was  as  curious 
as  she  was  cross.  Very  few  pleasant  words  ever 
passed  her  lips,  she  was  so  crusty  that  nothing 
was  ever  right ;  but  even  she  loved  Miss  Kiedeman 
although  she  would  not  control  her  ill-humor  even 
for  Mary  Ann.  Peggy  never  did  anything  like 
anybody  else,  and  so  she  made  Saturday  her  wash 
day,  and  her  wash  line  would  be  ornamented  with 
red  flannel  underclothing  when  people  passed 
that  way  to  church,  for  there  were  occasional 
Saturday  afternoon  love  feasts,  or  Saturday  eve- 
ning services. 

This  annoyed  the  pastor  very  much,  it  was  un- 


238    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 

seemly,  indecorous,  and  so  he  informed  her.  Bad 
tempered  Peggy  was  as  curt  in  her  replies  as  she 
dared  be  to  a  minister,  and  gave  him  no  satisf ac- 
tipn  at  the  time,  or  obedience  later;  for  the  red 
flannels  continued  to  wave  defiantly  on  the  Satur- 
day breezes. 

Peggy  was  rather  nice  looking,  really,  but  dis- 
dained all  vanity,  and  hid  her  face,  usually,  in 
the  depths  of  a  black  sunbonnet.  She  was  sel- 
dom seen  without  it,  and  as  she  walked  quietly, 
in  fact,  really  sneaked  along  in  her  soft  slippers, 
her  sudden  appearance  around  a  corner  caused 
some  affright,  particularly  as  a  growl  was  liable 
to  come  from  the  depths  of  the  sunbonnet. 

In  those  days  of  very  long  full  skirts,  when 
ladies'  feet  beneath  their  skirts  "like  little 
mice  peeped  in  and  out,"  Peggy  Fulton 
shocked  everyone  by  wearing  awfully  short 
skirts,  and  when  the  everlasting  sunbonnet  was 
not  on  her  head,  she  wore  the  queerest  looking 
caps  which  attracted  more  attention  than  the  old 
bonnet.  Anything  to  be  contrary  was  evidently 
her  rule. 

Her  room  w^as  on  the  top  floor  in  the  west  cor- 
ridor and  certainly  the  "dark  halP'  as  it  was 
called,  never  had  as  odd  an  occupant  of  its  breezy 
roms  as  was  this  Peggy  Fulton. 

Erin's  Isle  was  her  birthplace  and  she  lived  to 
be  eighty  years  old  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  her 
veins  never  knew  the  milk  of  human  kindness. 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


239 


Peggy's  windows  were  very  close  to  the  school- 
bell  in  its  little  belfry  and  at  this  time  that  bell 
called  together  the  pupils  of  Ambrose  Kond- 
thaler,  that  rare  spirit,  who  for  years  was  at  the 
head  of  the  day  school,  adored  by  the  teachers 
and  pupils  alike.  His  home  was  on  the  green 
adjacent  to  the  school,  shaded  by  some  of  the  old 
cedars  which  gave  their  name  to  littl  Cedar 
Street,  and  fronting  the  splendid  willow  trees 
which  stood  on  the  square  for  years  and  years, 
forming  with  their  gray  green  grace,  a  most  pic- 
turesque setting  for  the  old  buildings. 

Dwelling  in  the  Rondthaler  home,  was,  of 
course.  Sister  Rondthaler.  Much  has  been  told 
about  Brother  Rondthaler's  dominant  person- 
ality, his  characteristic  way  of  doing  and  saying 
things  which  usually  achieved  the  result  he  de- 
sired. Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  chief  cause 
of  his  success,  his  homelife.  If  ever  a  woman 
stood  back  of  a  man  it  was  Sister  Rondthaler. 
Quietly,  unobtrusively,  she  made  his  hearth  stone 
a  place  of  joy.  Taking  no  part  herself  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  community,  she  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  take  his  place  in  it,  and  to  train  her  chil- 
dren to  meet  like  demands  upon  them. 

One  of  the  historic  pieces  of  furniture  in  Beth- 
lehem, has  been  in  her  family  for  four  gener- 
ations. It  is  a  gate  leg  table  dating  back  to  the 
time  of  the  erection  of  the  stately  Sisters'  House 
in  Herrnhut  about  1730. 


240    A  Century  of  Moravian  Sisters 


That  building  was  furnished  by  the  donations 
of  friends,  and  a  certain  Fran  von  Gersdorf  ran- 
sacked her  attic  for  some  things  and  found  the 
mahogany  table  which  she  sent  to  the  sisters 
with  the  other  gifts  she  had  collected  for  them. 
Louisa  von  Hayn  was  then  deaconess  and  had  the 
table  placed  in  her  room  to  be  used  as  a  business 
desk. 

Louisa  was  very  good  at  writing  verses  and 
hymns,  and  while  she  was  deaconess  wrote  the 
hymn,  "Jesus  makes  my  heart  rejoice." 

Therefore,  as  she  used  the  table  as  a  desk,  it  is 
reasonably  certain  that  the  hymn  was  written 
while  seated  at  this  table. 

Now  the  table  became  too  small  as  the  business 
pf  the  Sisters'  House  grew,  so  when  the  Sisters' 
House  in  Bethlehem  was  bu^ilt,  it,  with  other 
furniture  was  sent  across  the  ocean  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. Here  again  it  was  placed  in  the  rooms  of 
the  deaconess  and  used  for  official  business. 

Once  more  it  became  too  small  and  this  time 
was  given  to  an  old  sister  in  the  house.  By  and 
by  she  moved  to  Nazareth,  and  presented  her 
table  to  one  of  the  widows,  who  afterward  gave  it 
to  the  grandmother  of  Sister  Rondthaler. 

The  little  table  is  now  a  treasured  possession  of 
the  daughter  of  the  Rondthalers,  and  has  its  his- 
tory carefully  written  out  and  pasted  in  the 
drawer. 

The  hymn  for  which  the  table  stood  sponsor  is 


The  Sisters  of  '61 


241 


the  best  loved  hymn  of  the  Moravian  Church.  It 
is  the  hymn  played  by  the  trombone  choir  as  the 
announcement  of  the  death  of  a  little  girl,  it  is 
also  the  hymn  sung  by  parents  and  children  at 
the  morning  prayer  of  the  Married  People's  Fes- 
tival Day.  It  is  sung  by  the  children  on  their 
own  Festival  Day ;  it  is  sung  at  the  celebration  of 
the  Holy  Communion;  it  has  death  bed  associ- 
ations ;  in  fact  there  is  no  place  in  the  ritual  of 
the  Church  where  this  hymn  is  not  appropriate. 

Written  by  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Moravian 
sisters,  and  sung  by  every  sister  who  has  come 
after  her  for  nigh  two  hundred  years,  the  old 
hymn  lives  by  reason  of  its  perfect  faith. 

It  lives  for  us  to-day  with  the  same  fervor  it 
had  for  our  grandmothers ;  it  will  live  to-morrow 
for  our  children,  and  again  for  their  children. 
For  whether  we  be  white,  or  black,  or  red,  as  long 
as  the  Moravian  Church  shall  endure  we  will  sing 
with  Louisa  von  Hayn : 

^'Trusting  His  mild  staff  always 
I  go  in  and  out  in  peace 

He  will  feed  me  with  the  treasure 
Of  His  grace  in  richest  measure 
When  athirst  to  Him  I  cry- 
Living  water  He'ii  supply." 


A  POEM  BY  JOHN  SWANWICK  OF  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. 


0  Bethlehem !  dear  romantic  rural  shade, 
By  pious  hands,  for  contemplation  made, 

1  Joy  once  more  to  share  thy  fragrant  breeze, 
To  take  my  walk  beneath  thy  lofty  trees. 

To  wind  along  the  margin  of  thy  stream 
And  there  invoke  the  Muse's  fancied  dream; 
Or  stray  along  thy  groves  where  Heav'n  bestows 
Health  unimpair'd,  and  undisturb'd  repose. 

How  sweet  to  view,  along  the  flow'ry  lawn 
Thy  tribes,  O  Bethlehem!  by  devotion  drawn. 
In  social  meetings,  offer  social  prayers. 
And  with  the  sympathetic  sense,  allay  their  cares. 

How  sweet  to  see  your  peaceful  train  descend 
The  grassy  hillocks  which  to  Lehigh  tend. 
There,  in  soft  converse,  innocently  gay, 
"With  song  of  birds,  protract  the  fleeting  day. 

How  clear,  Monockasey,  thy  waters  glide. 
What  beauteous  willows  fan  thy  silver  tide ! 
What  velvet  meads  adorn  thy  winding  shore ! 
What  hills  stupendous  round  its  vallies  soar ! 

What  industry  these  buildings  must  have  rear'd  I 
What  holy  virtues  their  abodes  endear'd ! 
Where  ease  and  labour  keep  alternate  sway. 
And  winds  unruffled — mark  not  life's  decay. 
242 


A  Poem 


243 


Music !  thou  course  of  pleasures  most  refin'd. 
Thou  softest  soother  of  the  pensive  mind. 
Not  here  a  stranger  is  thy  potent  charm. 
Which  can  the  soul  with  fire  celestial  warm. 

When  evening,  with  her  mantle,  veils  the  sky, 
Then  clouds  of  incense  from  these  vallies  fly. 
Then  vocal  adds  to  instrumental  praise, 
And  all  the  village  its  glad  homage  pays. 

O  then,  may  Heaven  accept  the  grateful  strain. 
Nor  let  the  service  be  perform'd  in  vain. 
But  with  unnumber'd  blessings  crown  the  fields 
Whose  happy  owners  his  protection  shields. 

Adieu !  sweet  shades  I  accept  these  hasty  lines, 
A  Friend,  in  honour  of  your  charms,  designs ; 
Tho'  weak  the  verse,  yet  is  the  bard  sincere. 
Who  these  lov'd  vallies  visits  once  a  year. 
And  hopes,  yet  long,  with  annual  joy  to  see 
This  favorite  Beth'lem  from  affliction  free. 


MISSIONS  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 


MRS.  H.  G.  UNDERWOOD 

Underwood  of  Korea 

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/.  C.  R.  EmNG,  D.D. 

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BRUCE  KINNEYy  D.D. 

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LUCY  SEAMAN  BAINBRIDGE 

Hon.  Supt.  Woman's  Branch,  N.  V.  City  Mission  Society 

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New  York 

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TRAVEL,  MISSIONARY,  ETC. 


CHARLES  ERNEST  SCOTT,  M.A.,  P.P. 

Missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Tsingian,  China 

China  From  Within 

Introduction  by  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D.  Impres- 
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IN  OTHER  LANDS 


GAIUS  GLENN  ATKINS,  D.  D.    Authorof" Ptlgrimsaf 

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Jerusalem  Past  and  Present 

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CHRIST'S  LIFE  AND  TEACHING 


JOHN  GARDXER,  D  P. 

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ARTHUR  H.  PELONG,  P.P. 

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TIMELY  ESSAYS  AND  ADDRESSES 


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The  Joy-Maker 

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Ornamented  Orthodoxy 

Studies  in  Christian  Constancy.    Net  $1.25. 

"Intensely  practical,  the  kind  of  sermons  that  come 
home  to  the  man  on  the  street,  who  sees  life  none  too 
deeply,  but  feels  it  strongly." — Congregationalist. 

FREPERICK  F.  SHANNON  Author  of 

'   ' '  The  Soul's  Atlas'* 

The  Breath  in  the  Winds 

And  Other  Sermons.   i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  volume  of  discourses  rich  and  glowing  in  phrase  and 
illustration.  Mr.  Shannon  is  no  mere  sermonizer,  but  a 
preacher  of  outstanding  gifts,  which  here  find  ample  utili- 
zation. 

JOSIAH  SIBLEY,  P.P.   Pastor  0/ Calvary  Presbyterian 
— —         Church,  San  Francisco 

Pathfinders  of  the  Soul-Country 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  volume  of  addresses  marked  by  large  reading,  rich, 
copious  illustration  and  historical  incidenf.  Dr.  Sibley 
draws  from  the  stalwarts  of  the  ages  virile,  helpful  lessons 
and  furnishes  strong  incentives  for  the  believers  of  his 
own  time. 


NEW  EDITIONS 


S.  HALL  YOUNG 

Alaska  Days  with  John  Muir 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.15 

"Do  you  remember  Stickeen,  the  canine  hero  of  John 
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kan wilderness;  it  is  also  a  living  portrait  of  John  Muir  in 
the  great  moments  of  his  career." — New  York  Times. 

S.   R.    CROCKETT  Author  of  « Silver  Sand."  ett. 

Hal  'o  the  Ironsides :  ^  ^i? 'Jromweu 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

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great  Oliver — days  when  the  dogs  of  war  were  let  loose  in 
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for  the  King." — Examiner. 

FANNY  CROSBY 

Fanny  Crosby's  Story  g'oS  Year's 

By  S.  Trevena  Jackson.  Illustrated,  cloth,  net  $1.15 

"This  is,  in  a  way,  an  autobiography,  for  it  is  the  story  of 
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heart  of  every  reader." — Watchman-Bxamineu 

PROF.  HUGH  BLACK 

The  New  World 

i6mo,  cloth,  net  $1.15- 

"Dr.  Black  is  a  strong  thinker  and  a  clear,  forcible  writer. 
Here  be  analyzes  national  tendencies  toward  unrest — social, 
material,  religious.  This  he  does  with  moderation  yet  with 
courage,  and  always  with  hopefulness." — The  Outlook. 

S.   M.   ZJVEMER,  P.P.,  F.R.G.S.       Author  of    Arabia,"  4U, 

Childhood  in  the  Moslem  World 

Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  net  $2.00. 

"The  claims  of  millions  of  children  living  and  dying  under 
the  blighting  influence  of  Islam  are  set  forth  with  graphic 
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hammedan literature."— C/trM*tcn  Work. 


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